Hooda’s former aide among 3 discharged

Sunit Dhawan
Tribune News Service
Rohtak, December 6

A court on Friday discharged former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s political adviser Prof Virender Singh, local Congress leader Jaideep Dhankar and khap leader Maan Singh Dalal in a case of sedition, arson, rioting and criminal conspiracy in connection with the 2016 Jat quota agitation.

Talking to The Tribune, Prof Virender’s counsel JK Gakhar and Dhankar’s counsel Peeyush Gakhar said the court of Rohtak Additional Sessions Judge Ritu YK Behl had discharged all three accused as no charges were made out.

In his discharge application, Prof Virender had maintained that provocative statements were made by INLD workers at Sampla and he had called up khap leader Dalal to say that the INLD workers should go to Sirsa instead of creating disturbances in the Deswali belt, where the agitation was peaceful till then.

Dhankar had maintained that he had simply handed over his phone to Prof Virender for talking to Dalal, which did not amount to any offence.

Prof Virender and Dhankar had maintained that none of the persons to whom they had talked on their phones between February 12 and 25, 2016, was involved in any case pertaining to the Jat stir nor had they provoked anybody to commit any offence attributed to them.

On the other hand, the police maintained in their reply on the discharge pleas that “it was found during the investigation that the applicant (Prof Virender) had conversation with several persons (residents of the local area) who were active in the agitation. It clearly indicates that the applicant had an active participation in the instigation of the riots”.

After hearing and considering the arguments of both sides, the court discharged all three accused.

An FIR was registered against Prof Virender, Dhankar and Dalal in February 2016 in connection with the Jat quota stir on the basis of a complaint lodged by Capt Pawan Kumar Anchal of Bhiwani after an audio-clip containing Prof Virender’s controversial telephonic conversation with the khap leader went viral. All three of them are out on bail.