Fri. Mar 29th, 2024

Bail petition of Aam Aadmi Party MLA Prakash Jarwal was rejected by Delhi’s Tees Hazari Sessions court yesterday in connection with his arrest for allegedly assaulting the state’s Chief Secretary in the presence of his party colleagues and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Jarwal, along with MLA Amanatullah Khan, had been arrested by the police on 20th February following a complaint of assault and criminal intimidation by Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash. Their bail pleas had then been refused by a magisterial court, which sent them to a 14-days judicial custody.

Jarwal’s advocate had argued that his client is young and has recently been married and that is why he should be let off on bail. He also argued that the charges against Jarwal are fabricated and that the court was unnecessarily placing reliance on unreliable evidence.

The state’s public prosecutor, on the other hand, opposed Jarwal’s bail plea stating that the charges against him are grave and that material witnesses are yet to be examined. He also highlighted the fact that CCTV footages at CM Kejriwal’s residence from that fateful night seem to have been tampered with, which raises questions on the MLAs present there.

The court found merit in the prosecutor’s contentions and rejected Jarwal’s bail application for “violating dignity” of Chief Secretary Prakash and stopping him for discharging his duties. It said that the MLA could go to any extent to serve his interests and this is alarming because it amounts to a lawmaker himself not respecting the law.

The court also claimed that the primary evidence available on record with Prakash’s testimony, corroborated with his medical report and the sworn statement of CM Kejriwal’s advisor VK Jain, shows that the assault on the Chief Secretary looks premeditated, and that is why Jarwal cannot be granted bail at this point of time.

By dhruv