SR Darapuri, a political activist and former IPS officer described the move as a ‘misuse of power’ and ‘wrong’
Waquar Hasan | Clarion India
NEW DELHI — Ahead of the by-polls for the Sisamau assembly constituency in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur District later this year, the state government has decided to withdraw charges against 32 persons in the 2015 riots case.
According to reports, Mukesh Kumar Singh, special secretary in the Uttar Pradesh government, wrote to Kanpur district magistrate directing him to withdraw the case.
Talking to reporters on Wednesday, District Government Counsel (DGC) advocate Dilip Awasthi confirmed the reports.
“The administration has perhaps withdrawn the case. I did not get the letter in this regard. But I got the information about it. As soon as we get the letter from the government, we will start the process of withdrawing the case,” said Awasthi.
He claimed that unfair cases were filed against members of the majority community under pressure from the then government and other groups.
Clarion India’s efforts to get the views of the district magistrate of Kanpur did not yield any response.
SR Darapuri, a political activist and former IPS officer, described the move as a “misuse of power” and “wrong”.
“It’s for the court to decide whether the case is fair or unfair. The move is a misuse of power. The chief minister himself withdrew cases filed against him and the matter was taken to the high court,” said Darapuri.
In 2017, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government ordered the withdrawal of a 1995 case against Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and 14 others for defying prohibitory orders. The other accused included a union minister and a BJP MLA.
The latest issue is related to communal clashes which erupted in October 2015 in Fazalganj police station area in Darshanurwa when a banner with a photo of Hindu goddess Maa Durga fell on a Taziya procession during the lunar month of Muharram.
The frayed tempers were doused after the administration held a meeting between the people of both communities. However, the next day when the Muharram procession was being taken out, some anti-social elements raised provocative slogans against the minority community. When the police tried to pacify them, they started pelting stones at them. Police had to resort to a lathi charge to disperse the crowd.
Darapuri criticised the action of the Uttar Pradesh government about the withdrawal of the cases by citing the ruling of the Supreme Court.
In August 2021, the apex court had said a government on its own cannot be allowed to withdraw criminal cases and it can be done only after the approval of the concerned high court. A bench of Chief Justice NV Ramana and Justices DY Chandrachud and Surya Kant said if cases with malicious intent are filed, prosecution in cases could be withdrawn but there has to be application of judicial mind.
The former IPS officer said, “the ruling party took this action to favour its supporters, benefit and prevent them from getting punished. This is prejudice and misuse of power. The ruling party had created a ruckus when the Mulayam Singh government withdrew some cases involving people who were falsely implicated in terror cases. They did not allow the cases to be withdrawn”.