HC notice to Haryana on former Cong MLA’s plea for security

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana high court on Friday put the Haryana government and state director general of police (DGP) on a notice on the petition filed by former Congress MLA Roshan Lal Arya, seeking security cover.

The notice was issued on Arya’s plea, in which without referring to the Jat community, he had submitted that as he had been opposed to reservation demand of a particular community and was speaking against the violence of February 2016 Jat quota violence, so he and his family members remained under constant threat. He cited a recent example in which his face was allegedly blackened.

He has argued that Member of Parliament (MP) Raj Kumar Saini, who had also been opposing reservation, had been given security. Being a political leader, the petitioner has to travel across the state, hence he be provided security cover, the court was told. The response has been sought by July 20.

Arya is facing several cases for his provocative speeches, especially against the Jat community. He was booked on March 7, 2016, for alleged derogatory remarks for assertions made prejudicial to national integration, among other offences. In the another case, the Mewat police had registered an FIR on April 26, 2016 on allegations of sedition, promoting enmity between different groups, among other offences.

THE FORMER MLA HAD SAID HE WAS UNDER THREAT AS HE HAD BEEN OPPOSED TO RESERVATION