Tuesday, Apr 22, 2003
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By Our Staff Correspondent
The bail plea came up for hearing before the Sessions Judge this morning after rejection by a lower court on April 16 and adjournment by an Additional Sessions Judge on April 19. The VHP had earlier announced that it would not seek bail for Mr. Togadia and would take the issue of his arrest to "the people's court''. The Special Public Prosecutor, S.R. Bajwa, contended that Mr. Togadia's speech in a ``Dharma Sabha'' in Ajmer on April 13 — after which he had distributed `trishuls' — was inflammatory and aimed at overthrowing the State Government. However, the defence counsel, Onkar Singh Lakhawat, argued that the call for change of Government could not be construed as an offence in a democracy. Mr. Punia stated in his order that the offence alleged under Section 121-A of IPC was a serious one and that the transcripts of Mr. Togadia's speeches supplied to the court had indicated that there were "reasonable grounds'' to constitute this and other offences mentioned in the FIR. In a significant direction, the Judge — while asking Mr. Togadia to refrain from committing these offences in future — gave liberty to the prosecution to take "appropriate action'' against the accused if and when he indulged in the activities on the basis of which the criminal charges had been levelled against him.
Order should serve as deterrent: Gehlot
Our Special Correspondent reports: The Rajasthan Chief Minister, Ashok Gehlot, today said the VHP and the BJP should realise the implications of the order granting bail to Mr. Togadia. "If they don't see reason even now, the law will make them do so,'' he said. ``The order should open their eyes. There are enough hints in it for anyone who cares to realise it,'' Mr. Gehlot said. "The court has not only given Mr. Togadia conditional bail but also has asked him not to repeat the crime,'' Mr. Gehlot said talking to a group of newspersons before leaving for Delhi in the evening. ``I hope the court order will act as a deterrent to the future plans of the VHP, the BJP and the Bajrang Dal for Rajasthan,'' said Mr. Gehlot, who reiterated his stand that "no outsider'' would be allowed to disturb the peace and tranquillity in the State. "People here do not like violence. They are a peace-loving lot,'' he said referring to the threat of "making a Gujarat of Rajasthan''. ``How can they talk about making a Gujarat of Rajasthan? The Prime Minister himself had said after the Gujarat incidents that he was feeling embarrassed to face the outside world on account of the violence. Now, the BJP is talking about making a Gujarat of Rajasthan — the same Gujarat which lowered the prestige of India in the eyes of the world outside, '' Mr. Gehlot asked. Mr. Gehlot said the BJP was confused over the Hindutva plank. "The Indore conclave of the BJP announced that Hindutva would not be an election issue. Five days later here they said it would be made an issue. They are a confused lot. How can the people of this country rely on such a political party?'' he observed.
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