Delhi HC refuses to quash FIR against AAP leader

New Delhi, April 6 :

The Delhi High Court has refused to quash a police complaint filed against an AAP candidate in the Delhi assembly election who was allegedly involved in a scuffle with a police constable at a polling booth.

In a recently delivered order, Justice Veena Birbal dismissed the plea of Aam Aadmi Party leader Rajan Prakash saying the case “does not fall within the parameters set down for quashing of FIR”.

Prakash had moved the court seeking an end to criminal proceedings lodged against him and two other party volunteers following an alleged altercation with Constable Nawab Ali posted near a polling booth during the Dec 4 poll.

Accusing Delhi Police of framing them, Prakash alleged it was being done because they were AAP members.

As per police, one of their constables was severely injured after a fight near a polling booth in Kirari, in north-west Delhi, on election day.

Constable Ali said in his statement that Prakash and the others raised slogans during polling and when he went to stop them from disturbing the polling procedure, Prakash grabbed his hand and one of his supporters attacked him with a heavy object on his head that left him badly wounded.

Ali was admitted to a hospital and on the basis of his statement, a police complaint was lodged against Prakash and his supporters for attacking a policeman and obstructing him from doing his duty.

Prakash, however, denied the allegations and claimed in court that police initially lodged a complaint under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) for a small altercation at the venue, but later under pressure converted it into an offence under the Indian Penal Code just because AAP supporters were allegedly involved.