Allahabad HC Refuses To Quash 23-Yr-Old Case Against Congress MP Randeep Surjewala

Prayagraj, March 21 (TNA) The Allahabad High Court has refused to quash a 23-year-old criminal case pending before the Varanasi Court against Congress' Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Singh Surjewala. The HC observed that the leader can however move a discharge plea before the Trial Court, and if done within a fortnight, it be considered and decided expeditiously within six weeks.

The bench of Justice Rajiv Gupta also granted him protection against coercive action for a period of two months or till the disposal of the discharge application, whichever is earlier. The case against the Congress lawmaker goes back to 2000 when he, along with other Congress leaders, were booked under Sections 333, 427, 147, 332, 353 and 336 of the IPC and Section 3 of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, Cantt Police Station, Varanasi.

He was accused of forcibly entering the commissioner's office premises, creating a ruckus, causing hurt and assaulting public servants. Surjewala challenged the case and had moved a plea before the HC to quash the proceedings claiming of the allegations made in the FIR and the material collected during the course of the probe, no offence is disclosed against him.