FIR against Hussain quashed

: The Delhi High Court has quashed an FIR lodged against State Food and Supplies Minister Imran Hussain and four others, who were accused of trying to extort Rs. 30 lakh from a man and threatening to kill him and demolish his under-construction building.

Justices Vipin Sanghi allowed the plea of the AAP MLA and the others after the complainant in the case said he had arrived at a settlement with the parties and did not want to pursue the matter further.

‘No coercion’

“The parties arrived at a settlement on August 26, 2016, which has been placed on record. The complainant states that he has not been subjected to any pressure or coercion and that he has entered the settlement of his own accord.”

The MLA and his accomplices -- Mohsin Ahmed, Furkan Hussain, Irfan Hussain and Hammad— had moved the High Court seeking quashing of the FIR lodged at the Jafrabad police station early this year for alleged offences under Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 387 (putting person in fear of death or of grievous hurt, in order to commit extortion) and 389 (putting person in fear of accusation of offence, in order to commit extortion) of the IPC. On October 6, the trial court had refused to grant them the protection from arrest, considering that the issue was “serious” and the offence was “not compoundable”.

The police had alleged that the Minister had sent co-accused Mohsin at the residence of the complainant, stopped the construction work and asked him to meet Imran in Jafrabad. It had claimed that the Minister had demanded Rs. 30 lakh to allow the construction work to go on or get the building demolished. When the complainant requested that the amount was too high, they allegedly threatened to kill him and his brother. —PTI