2015 case was filed after he had blocked a road and misbehaved with commuters
Team Clarion
LUCKNOW – After Uttar Pradesh government’s order, a court in Kushinagar has allowed the administration to withdraw a criminal case against a cow protection activist Atul Singh and others for blocking a road and misbehaving with commuters during a protest against policemen in 2015.
“Special Judge Shalini Sagar allowed withdrawal application in the interest of justice on Wednesday. The court found that there was not enough evidence against the accused. Except for policemen, there were no private witnesses in the case. There were least chances to convict the accused and there would be no impact on public interest if the case was withdrawn,” district government counsel GP Yadav was quoted by Indian Express as saying.
Singh, the accused, is vice-chairperson of Gau Sewa Ayog (Cow Volunteer Commissio) and a leader of Hindu Yuva Vahini, the organisation formed by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanth
In 2015, Singh, who is a former BJP MLA from Kushinagar’s Ramkola, and others including former block pramukh Virendra Singh were part of a protest against the police and district administration after receiving reports that the police had assaulted two people and extorted money from them. They blocked the Gorakhpur-Kasya road (National Highway-28) and threw traffic out of gear. They raised slogans against the police and the district administration, and allegedly misbehaved with commuters. The protest was withdrawn after two hours after the leaders were assured that action would be taken in the matter.
They were booked under IPC section 143 (member of unlawful assembly) and 283 (danger or obstruction in public way or line of navigation). The police also invoked Section 7 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act and the National Highway Act against the accused. A chargesheet was filed against 16 people, including Atul Singh.
Talking about the incident, Singh claimed that he had not blocked the road and a false case had been filed against him.
“We got a complaint from people that the police were charging three times the taxes from taxi drivers. I informed the district administration and the police, but no one took action. The Samajwadi Party government was in power then. We raised the issue in public interest, but did not block the road. The police later lodged a false case against us,” he told Indian Express.
