How can trial go on without sanction, asks high court

ALLAHABAD: The Allahabad high court on Friday asked counsel for parties in the 2007 Gorakhpur riot case to apprise it whether a magistrate while applying his judicial mind can still proceed in a trial for which sanction to prosecute the accused had been rejected by the state government.

The court deferred till Monday the hearing and fixed July 31 for the final hearing of the case, in which chief minister Yogi Adityanath is an accused.

One person was killed and several others were injured in Gorakhpur after an alleged provocative speech by Adityanath, who is also the head of a powerful local Hindu sect, outside the railway station. The then MP was reacting to the killing of Raj Kumar Agrahri, who was stabbed to death in a clash between Hindu and Muslim groups during a Moharram procession.

The division bench of justice Krishna Murari and justice Akhilesh Chandra Sharma was hearing the writ petition filed by Parvez Parwaz and Asad Hayat.

As soon as the hearing began, counsel representing the state government raised several preliminary objections and requested the court to hear them first.

After permission, the counsel said while the petitioners had prayed for transfer of investigation to an independent agency, police had already concluded their probe on April 10, 2015, and a final report in favour of the accused had been prepared. Later, sanction for prosecution was refused against the accused.

The counsel said that since investigation was through in the case, the petition had become infructuous and must be dismissed. If the petitioners’ were aggrieved by the final report, they could file objections before the magistrate concerned, the counsel said. “CrPC provides for a specific remedy and petitioners cannot approach the High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution which provides for filing of writ petition in case of absence of any alternate remedy to aggrieved person,” counsel said.

In the petition, a request has been made for investigation by an independent agency into the FIR registered in 2008 in Gorakhpur against Adityanath, the then city mayor Anju Chaudhri, the then MLA Radha Mohan Agarwal, and one more person.

ONE PERSON WAS KILLED AND SEVERAL OTHERS INJURED IN GORAKHPUR AFTER AN ALLEGED PROVOCATIVE SPEECH BY ADITYANATH