Jiti Patwari and Sanjay Shukla got big relief from the court in the Rajwada protest case.

3

Indore court gives relief to Congress leaders

Indore News: The special court of Indore (MP-MLA Court) has given relief to prominent Congress leaders accused of violating the collector’s order during the Corona epidemic and acquitted them. These leaders, including Jitu Patwari, Sanjay Shukla, Vishal Patel, and Vinay Bakliwal, were earlier accused in the case.

Chronology of the incident of 13 June 2020

In June 2020, when the country was battling the Corona pandemic, the then Congress MLAs staged a dharna under the Goddess Ahilya statue located at Rajwada in Indore. Police alleged that these leaders organized a public meeting without permission and violated the orders of Section 144 issued by the District Magistrate. As a result, a case was registered against him under sections 188 and 34 of IPC.

Reduction in police cases

During the hearing in the court of Special Judge Shri Dev Kumar, several serious flaws in the police investigation were revealed, which proved beneficial for the defence:

Complainant and investigator are one and the same

In this case, the then police station in-charge Amrita Solanki not only acted as the complainant but also conducted the investigation. The court considered this contrary to the principles of fairness.

lack of witnesses

In this type of public demonstration, the police did not make even a single common citizen a witness, due to which all the witnesses remained policemen.

lack of technical evidence

The police claimed that the demonstration was video recorded, but no concrete video evidence could be presented in court.

lack of clarity

During the testimony, the policemen did not clarify what the demands of the leaders were or how many people were involved in the demonstration.

lawyers’ side

Advocates Saurabh Mishra and Jai Hardiya, representing the leaders, told the court that the case was registered primarily for political reasons. The police failed to prove that there was any actual violation of any order or threat of loss of life. Keeping in mind the absence of evidence, the court ordered the acquittal of all four leaders.