Jalandhar West AAP MLA Sheetal Angural acquitted in 4 of 9 cases in two months

Deepkamal Kaur

Jalandhar, February 7

A local court has acquitted Aam Aadmi Party leader and Jalandhar West MLA Sheetal Angural in a case of wrongful restraint of public from entering city police headquarters in 2017, making it the fourth case in which he has walked free in less than two months.

A study of all the judgments showed that either the prosecution had failed to establish charges, or witnesses turned hostile, giving him a leeway.

REALITY COMING OUT NOW

All cases had been lodged against me due to political pressure. Thankfully, the reality is coming out now. Sheetal Angural, Jalandhar West MLA

The MLA had been facing trial in as many as nine cases till exactly two years ago as per his affidavit submitted during filing of nomination papers ahead of the 2022 Punjab Assembly polls. The charges against him included attempt to murder, mischief committed by fire or explosives, abduction, gambling, cheating, fabrication of false evidence, causing disappearance of evidence and use of assault to deter public servant from discharge of duty.

While he continues to face trial in five cases, he has managed to get acquittal in four cases – gambling, abduction and illegal confinement of a minor, defamation against the city police and another under Sections 341 (punishment of wrongful restraint) and 149 (unlawful assembly) of the IPC.

Tuesday’s order by the court of Jalandhar CJM Gagandeep Kaur came in his favour and 11 others in a case lodged in 2017 when they were protesting against the police seeking fair investigation in a case against a BJP leader. Angural was then a BJP leader. He had joined the AAP ahead of the Assembly elections.

As the cops on security duty failed to testify against the accused, the CJM has stated in the judgment: “The prosecution has miserably failed to prove the guilt of the accused. There are various dents in the version of the prosecution.”

Prior to this, he also got acquitted in a defamation case for accusing the cops of acting at the behest of then ruling Congress. This case was decided on January 15. In this case too, the CJM said, “The prosecution has failed to discharge its onus. Even prosecution witnesses (DSP, head constable and some ASIs) failed to identify the accused. No CCTV footage was placed on record.”

Besides, the MLA was acquitted in a case of alleged abduction and assault on a minor in May 2020 after witnesses turned hostile.

Angural, however, refuted charges of pressurising witnesses in the cases lodged against him. “All the cases had been lodged against me on political pressure. I had been booked wrongly even when I was nowhere on the spot.”