New Delhi, Oct 27 (IANS) A plea was filed in a court here on Wednesday against Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar over his statement during a meeting with workers of BJP's Kisan Morcha on October 3, in which he allegedly asked the party members to stand up against protesting farmers.
The petition alleged that as per the video of the meeting, the CM was asking party workers to make "500-600-1,000 volunteers" in every district of north and west Haryana, and be ready to "face sticks, imprisonment", which will make them "big leaders".
In the plea filed before Sachin Gupta, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Rouse Avenue Court, complainant Advocate Amit Sahni, contended that the link of the CM's meeting with partymen was live on YouTube.
However, after the portion of his controversial remarks went viral on social media, the video was taken off, but it was broadcast by several persons connected with the Chief Minister Office, Haryana.
The video is still available on various social platforms and news websites, the petitioner said.
"The contents of the videos make it abundantly clear that the accused has committed offence under sections 109, 153, 153A and 505 IPC by giving provocation with intent to cause riot, promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc, and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony and making statements conducing to public mischief under section 109, 153, 153 A, 505 IPC," the plea stated.
Pointing out a series of related events, the plea said that earlier Haryana IAS officer Ayush Sinha made a controversial statement to "break heads" of farmers.
It also highlighted the controversial incident that took place during Khattar's 'Jan Ashirwad Yatra' in 2019 as part of his campaign in the run-up to the Haryana assembly elections, in which he was allegedly heard saying "I will chop your head off," in a viral video.
Quoting "Be ye never so high, the law is above you", the words of English Judge Lord Denning, the petitioner said that no one is above the law and that the law applies to everyone equally, regardless of anyone's rank or position.
The minister and his son are accused in the October 3 incident in which nine persons, including four farmers, were mowed down by SUVs. The minister's son Ashish Mishra has already been arrested.
It's likely that Sidhu will put forth the list of demands in the Punjab government as he is upset with the appointments in the government. He has resigned from the post of state president, but it has not been accepted yet by Sonia Gandhi. The meeting gains significance as it comes ahead of the CWC meeting.
The civil secretariat houses the top offices of the government, including those of the Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha and his advisors. Police tried to intervene to restrain the mourners from carrying out the sit-in outside the civil secretariat.
"My son will go to the police tomorrow and assist the probe. He has not escaped anywhere," Mishra said on his arrival in Lucknow. He said that his son was very much in their house in Lakhimpur.
Punjab Congress President Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday proceeded on indefinite fast in support of his demand for action against Ashish Mishra, the son of Union Minister Ajay Mishra and main accused in Sunday's violence in which nine persons, including four farmers, were killed.
Following a tipoff, the DRI sleuths swooped on the port on October 4 and detected the huge narcotics contraband, valued at Rs 125 crore, among boxes of a cooking oil container arriving from Iran and are now probing the possibility of a bigger drug smuggling racket with international ramifications for India and other countries.
