M F AHMAD
Daltonganj, November 23: A Special MP MLA court here in Daltonganj on Wednesday acquitted three political leaders in their respective cases of violation of the model code of conduct.
The three political leaders acquitted include Shashibhushan Mehta (presently BJP MLA from Panki), Devender Kumar Singh alias Bittu Singh (former MLA from Panki) and Laal Suraj (a contestant for the Panki assembly constituency).
BJP MLA Mehta, while talking to a Lagatar correspondent said, “All three of us have been acquitted in our separate cases.”
The court premise was full of supporters of the three, who are arch rivals of each other politically, however, during the hearings seemed united over their acquittal.
Asgar Alam, the defence lawyer of Devender Kumar Singh said, “The case was registered under section 188 of the IPC and section 127 of the Representation of People Act with the Lesliganj police station way back in 2016, by the then block development officer Ravindra Kumar.”
“It was about opening the poll offices without permission from the competent authority and subsequent chaos by different groups. However, the prosecution could not present adequate evidence to prove the contention to violation of the model code of conduct, Alam added.
Defence lawyer Alam further said that there were 11 witnesses in the case but none could establish the violation of the model code of conduct.
Devender Kumar Singh, while talking to a Lagatar correspondent said, “We respect the law and trust the judiciary, which is why all three of us got acquitted by the court.”
