UP TO DROP 18 CASES RELATED TO RIOTS IN MUZAFFARNAGAR

MUZAFFARNAGAR: The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to withdraw 18 cases related to the Muzaffarnagar riots and asked the district authorities to approach the court, sources said Sunday.

UP’S special secretary of law JJ Singh has directed Muzaffarnagar district magistrate Rajeev Sharma to withdraw the cases, they said. On the directive from Lucknow, the district authorities have started preparing to approach the court for permission to withdraw the cases. The cases were filed under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code including 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon) and 397 (attempt to cause death), the sources said.

The directive came after the state government sought details of 125 cases filed in relation to the Muzaffarnagar riots of 2013.

Additional district magistrate Amit Kumar said that the state government had sought the details to review the possibility of withdrawing the 125 cases pending in courts.

Several leaders of the ruling BJP, including MPS Sanjeev Balyan and Bharatendra Singh, MLAS Sangeet Som and Umesh Malik, have been named in these 125 cases. Minister in the state government Suresh Rana and Hindutva leader Sadhvi Prachi are also accused. However, the cases asked to withdraw do not include these names .

Communal clashes in Muzaffarnagar and adjoining areas in August and September 2013 had claimed 60 lives and displaced over 40,000 people.