Allahabad High Court Refuses To Quash FIR Filed By Sitting MLA Against BYJM Chief Over Incidents After Bahraich Violence
The Allahabad High Court refused to quash an FIR lodged by the sitting MLA against the BYJM Chief for causing a ruckus after the death of his cousin-in-law in Bahraich violence.
The Court was hearing Writ Petitions filed by persons accused of not letting the District administration perform their duty after the Bahraich violence.
The bench of Justice Sangeeta Chandra and Justice Mohd. Faiz Alam Khan observed, “we do not find that the second FIR which was lodged on 18.10.2024 and which has been challenged in these petitions to be a part of the same transaction. It is related to a subsequent development and the Section of the B.N.S. invoked in the same are not identical and do not relate to the same incident or the same accused.”
Advocate Abhishek Srivastava appeared for the Appellant.
Brief Facts-
The Petitioner alleged that the sitting MLA of Mahasi Constituency, whom he previously criticised as a journalist, filed a false FIR against him out of personal animosity. He claimed that attended a protest near a medical college after the death of his cousin-in-law, merely to accompany the body for post-mortem. He contended that the MLA influenced the FIR which was filed eight days post-incident alleging that Pandey fired a shot in the air- a claim he disputes, noting the MLA wanted to revoke his gun licence.
The Court noted that the initial FIR that was lodged by the police official concerned related to general information regarding the incident which happened during the immersion procession of Devi Durga idols where one person was shot as a result where crowd got angry and destroyed the shops of the other community through stone-pelting and setting them on fire whereas the FIR that was lodged by the public representative, the sitting MLA of Mahasi Constituency with regard to the incident where the named accused along with others were holding Dharna Pradarshan with the body of the deceased-victim and not letting the District Administration and the Police Authorities from carrying out their public duties regarding the autopsy of the deceased-victim by taking his body to the mortuary for post mortem examination.
Accordingly, the Court dismissed the Petition.
Cause Title: Pundrik Kumar Pandey v. State Of U.P. (Neutral Citation: 2024:AHC-LKO:72485-DB)
Appearance:
Appellant: Advocates Alok Kirti Mishra and Dharmesh Kumar Dwivedi