A special MP-MLA court reportedly allowed the prosecution to withdraw a case against 25 BJP leaders and Hindu activists, including Uttar Pradesh minister Kapil Dev Agarwal, former Union minister Sanjeev Balyan and former state minister Suresh Rana, in connection with a 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots-related case.
According to news agency PTI, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate/MP-MLA court judge Devendra Kumar Faujdar allowed the prosecution's application seeking withdrawal of the case on Wednesday, prosecution officer Rahul Singh said.
What was the case?
The accused were facing trial for allegedly violating prohibitory orders, obstructing public servants in the discharge of their duties and inciting communal tension through speeches at a mahapanchayat held at Nagla Mador in the district on July 31, 2013, Singh told PTI on Thursday.
The accused included Agarwal, Balyan, Rana, former Uttar Pradesh minister Ashok Kataria, former BJP MPs Bhartendu Singh and Sohanvir Singh, former BJP MLAs Ashok Kansal and Umesh Malik, VHP leader Sadhvi Prachi and Narsinghanand of Dasna Shiv Temple, among others.
The prosecution moved the application following the Uttar Pradesh government's decision to withdraw the case, Singh said.
The 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots and subsequent violence in neighbouring districts left more than 60 people dead and displaced over 40,000, according to official figures.
