5 Cong MLAs booked for ‘injuring’ governor
SHIMLA: Hours after they were suspended for the entire budget session for unruly behavior at the Vidhan Sabha on Friday, the Himachal Pradesh Police registered a case against five Congress legislators, including leader of opposition Mukesh Agnihotri, for causing grievous injuries to governor Bandaru Dattatreya.
Besides Agnihotri, the case was registered against five-time Shillai legislator Harshwardhan Chauhan, Sunder Thakur, Satpal Raizada and Vinay Kumar at Boileuganj police station. All five were booked on the complaint from the Vidhan Sabha secretariat.
The MLAs were booked for obstructing the exit of the governor and injuring him in the process. A marshal escorting the governor complained about this to Vidhan Sabha Speaker Vipin Singh Parmar.
The MLAs had flung copies of governor’s address on his official car when he was leaving. “They threw copies of the governor’s address. It not only caused dishonour but also hurt him,” Parmar said.
According to police sources, the MLAs were booked under Section 323 of the Indian Penal Code for voluntarily causing hurt.
The offence is bailable. Besides, the case was also registered under Section 124, 341 and 34 of the IPC.
Security to be beefed up in assembly
Soon after the opening day’s session ended, the Speaker convened a meeting of the security staff to review the situation. Footage from close circuit cameras on the Vidhan Sabha premises and those being circulated on social media and electronic media was watched closely before the complaint was lodged.
The Vidhan Sabha secretariat decided to increase the number of internal security staff on the premises for the session.
“Due to the pandemic, we had restricted the number of entrants to the Vidhan Sabha and deployed fewer security personnel, but after Friday’s incident, it has been decided to increase the number of police personnel deployed there,” Parmar said.