Warrant against Delhi speaker in rioting case

NEW DELHI: A trial court on Saturday issued a bailable warrant against Delhi assembly speaker Ram Niwas Goel after he failed to appear before it in an alleged rioting case of 2008.
Metropolitan magistrate Sunil Kumar Sharma issued the warrant against Goel.
The police had chargesheeted 21 people, including Goel, BJP members Harsh Vardhan, Jagdish Mukhi and Aarti Mehra, in an alleged case of rioting and damaging public property during a protest by BJP activists at the CPI(M) office in central Delhi in March 2008.
Goel, who later joined Aam Aadmi Party, was elected speaker of the Delhi assembly on February 23.
On January 12, the court had allowed an application seeking exemption from personal appearance moved by Goel’s counsel and five other accused. They were subjected to a fine of Rs 2,500 each, and directed to appear before the court on Saturday. When Goel did not appear on Saturday, the magistrate issued a bailable warrant of Rs 10,000 against him and posted the matter for hearing on May 30.
In November 2012, the police had filed a plea seeking withdrawal of prosecution of the accused.
Following this, the court had sought the response of the survivors who were injured in the incident. The survivors had sought dismissal of the police’s plea for withdrawal of prosecution of the accused. The plea is pending before the court.