The Hindu : Hearing on Togadia bail plea today

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Saturday, Apr 19, 2003

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Hearing on Togadia bail plea today

By Our Staff Correspondent

JAIPUR APRIL 18. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad general secretary, Praveen Togadia, now in judicial custody after his arrest last Sunday, moved a bail application in the Sessions Court at Ajmer today. The plea would be taken up for hearing on Saturday.

A lower court had denied bail to Mr. Togadia on Wednesday after the State Government slapped an additional charge of "conspiracy to wage war and overawe the State by criminal force" against him under Section 121-A of the IPC. Mr. Togadia was not brought to the court from the Central Jail and the bail application was filed by his counsel, Onkar Singh Lakhawat.

Mr. Togadia had earlier stated that he would not apply for bail "as of now" and would take the allegations levelled against him to the "people's court".

The VHP vice-president, Acharya Giriraj Kishore, had also spoken of launching a campaign against Mr. Togadia's arrest before seeking legal redress.

Mr. Lakhawat, who is also the vice-president of the BJP State unit, told The Hindu that the decision to move the bail application was taken after the VHP president, Ashok Singhal, arrived in Ajmer this morning and held discussions with local VHP functionaries. Some top VHP leaders are also expected to reach Ajmer in a couple of days.

Apart from the bail application — which would be heard by the Ajmer District and Sessions Judge, H.S. Punia — Mr. Togadia moved another application in the lower court seeking the court's protection against the "threat" to his life. It demanded that his blood samples be taken daily and tested for any "poisonous substance or slow poison".

The application, moved before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Indu Pareek, said Mr. Togadia was a diabetic and sought directions for issuing a daily health bulletin about his condition in jail after his examination by a specialist. The magistrate directed the jail superintendent to take "legally permissible" action on the application, which also alleged that the VHP leaders, Mr. Singhal and Mohan Bhagwat, were not allowed to meet Mr. Togadia in the jail today.

Mr. Lakhawat said the court was informed that a complaint about a senior police official's "objectionable statement" amounting to a threat to Mr. Togadia's life was made to the Chief Minister, Ashok Gehlot, on April 13, but the Government had deliberately refrained from taking any action.

"Even the case diary submitted to the court reveals that the police had framed the charges under both Sections 121 and 121-A of the IPC against Mr. Togadia, but later removed Section 121 on April 16 following the public outcry against the accusation of sedition,'' he said.

Mr. Togadia was arrested on April 13 near Ajmer on charges of violating prohibitory orders and the ban on distribution of `trishuls'. He is in judicial custody till April 30.

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Hearing on Togadia bail plea today