Relief for AAP MLA Raman Arora, bail plea allowed

The Punjab and Haryana High Court today allowed regular bail plea of AAP MLA Raman Arora in a case registered under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Among other things, the MLA elected from Jalandhar central constituency had alleged false implication in the matter.

“The prosecution is malicious and politically motivated as the witnesses who have an axe to grind with the petitioner have been projected as victims beyond the allegations in the FIR,” the petitioner had alleged, adding that he was in custody since his arrest on May 23.

The detailed order passed by Justice Tribhuvan Dahiya granting bail to Arora was not yet available. The high court’s official website showed the status of his plea as “allowed”. Arora was represented by senior counsel R S Rai and advocates P S Ahluwalia, G S Bedi, Pawandeep Singh and Rubina Virmani.

The Bench during the course of hearing was told that petitioner was served with faulty and generic grounds of arrest, which were not specific to him “as warranted under law and were supplied to him as a “mere formality” and were “violative” of Article22 of the Constitution as well as Section 47 of the BNSS.

The provision mandates that a person arrested without a warrant must be promptly informed of the grounds for his arrest. If the offence is non-bailable, he was required to be informed of his right to bail and the need to arrange for sureties.

It was added that his arrest was illegal for non-compliance of provisions of Section 35 (3) of the BNSS, which says “if an arrest is not necessary for a cognizable offence, the police officer must issue a written notice to appear to the person suspected of the offence. His counsel added a checklist was not forwarded to the Magistrate concerned in terms of S 35(1) (b) (ii) of the BNSS.