Court Drops Sedition Charges Against Accused In Bulandshahr Mob Violence Case

An Uttar Pradesh court today dropped sedition charges against all the 38 accused in the Bulandshahr mob violence, which had resulted into the death of a senior officer and a civilian late last year. The court also pulled up the state police for filing a chargesheet under 124-A of the CrPC -- which relates to sedition -- without the home department's approval.

Instead, the accused have been charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including murder, attempted murder, criminal conspiracy, rioting and arson. Bulandshahr Superintendent of Police Atul Srivastava told NDTV that the police now plans to file a supplementary chargesheet that includes charges under 124-A after taking the home department's permission.

Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh was shot dead on December 3, when a mob of right-wing activists ran riot upon finding carcasses of several cows in the outskirts of Bulandshahr's Mahaw village. The attackers used stones and sticks to hit the police officer before shooting him. A 20-year-old man was also killed in police firing.

The incident sparked off a major controversy, with opposition parties and former bureaucrats accusing the state government of trying to scuttle the probe into Inspector Singh's death. Over 80 retired civil servants wrote an open letter in this regard, calling for the resignation of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for allegedly failing to safeguard the fundamental principles of governance, constitutional ethics and humane social conduct.

Mr Adityanath later announced financial aid to the tune of Rs 40 lakh for the wife of Inspector Singh and Rs 10 lakh for his parents. The chief minister also earmarked an extraordinary pension for the police officer's immediate family and government employment for a close relative.

(With inputs from Agencies)