Bhopal court lists Akash Vijayvargiya bail plea for Saturday

Bhopal: A bail application was moved on Friday before Additional Sessions Judge Suresh Singh here who asked the police to produce two separate case diaries about Indore BJP legislator Akash Vijayvargiya, charged with assaulting a municipal officer with a cricket bat and with staging a protest march without mandatory approval. He listed the hearing of his bail plea for Saturday.

Akash Vijayvargiya, son of BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, has been in judicial custody in Indore jail since Wednesday evening for thrashing a civic official with a cricket bat.

Earlier on Thursday the MLA’s bail application filed before the Additional Sessions Court in Indore was dismissed on the grounds of jurisdiction. The judge asked the lawyers to file the appeal before the designated court in Bhopal that deals with criminal cases related to ministers and legislators.

BJP’s Indore unit has, meanwhile, announced a movement to protest the MLA’s arrest. They staged a sit-in near the main Rajwada square and put up posters glorifying him. ‘Salute Akash’ said the posters displayed all over the town. The corporation authorities have removed the posters.

The BJP state unit appears to have distanced itself from the episode, but the underlying message to the youth workers seems to brazen out and hog limelight from the incident.

Taking a cue from Akash his party’s youth wing leader from Damoh, Vivek Agrawal wielded the willow to justify the Indore incident and sought his share of limelight by reaching the municipality office and creating scare. He put out a video that went viral. Vivek is the son of municipality corporator Usha Agrawal.

A similar incident was reported from Satna where youth workers took out a rally with bats in hand. These incidents might only add to the arguments against bail to Akash.

Legal luminaries say Akash could be disqualified from contesting any election for six years if he is found guilty by the Bhopal court. He could be allowed a three-month period to challenge the verdict. If there is no relief from the higher court, Akash could be sentenced to jail for two to seven years under Sections 147 and 148 of IPC.

Meanwhile, civic official Dhirendra Bais (46), whom Akash had assaulted has been admitted to an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a private hospital at Indore, a doctor said. Doctors at the Palasia private hospital said Bais complained of high blood pressure and was admitted to a private hospital late Thursday night and was stable.

Chief Minister Kamal Nath has put out a message for the youth saying the “cricket bat should be used to symbolise the nation’s victory and not the defeat of democracy.”

He said, “India has two distinct features. First, it is the world’s largest democracy; second, it has the largest youth population in the world. It is natural that the expectations from the elected youth will be high as we have the glorious legacy of democracy.”

Published on: June 28, 2019 at 19:12 IST

IANS