A court here has dropped the sedition charge against 38 people accused of violence in Bulandshahr in which a police inspector and a civilian were killed, their lawyer alleged on Tuesday. The police, however, rebuffed the claim.
A total of 38 people, including local BJP and Bajrang Dal leaders, were arrested for the violence that broke out in Siyana tehsil on December 3, leading to the killing of Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh and villager Sumit Singh. A SIT was formed to probe the case and it filed a chargesheet in the court on March 2. The court took cognisance of the report on Tuesday.
“During the argument, the court pointed out that the police does not have a requisite permission for pressing IPC section 124A (sedition) against the accused,” defence lawyer Bruno Bhushan said.
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“The police needs to have permission from the Centre or the State government if charging anyone with sedition,” the lawyer claimed.
The police, however, maintained no charge had been dropped and that they were awaiting permission from the State government.