Akhilesh Yadav gets generous, withdraws cases on SP leaders

With the countdown to the UP Assembly elections in 2017 having begun, the Akhilesh Yadav government has turned generous with a vengeance.

The Akhilesh government is now withdrawing criminal cases lodged against its leaders in the past few years. The prosecution department of the state government is busy clearing up “taints” by either withdrawing cases or by coercing a compromise between the two parties. In cases where withdrawal of cases is not possible, the witnesses are suddenly turning “hostile”, giving relief to the accused leaders.

Heading the list of Samajwadi leaders who have had cases against them withdrawn is UP Cabinet minister Vinod Singh, aka Pandit Singh. The state government has taken back cases registered against him in Tarabganj in Gonda district.

UP minister Raghuraj Pratap Singh, popularly known as Raja Bhaiyya, is another beneficiary. The Akhilesh government has withdrawn two criminal cases against Mr Singh that had been lodged in 2006 and 2011. Former UP minister and senior party leader Ambica Chaudhary has got reprieve with the government taking back cases lodged against him in Ballia district.

UP minister Mehboob Ali can also heave a sigh of relief because the state government has withdrawn eight criminal cases lodged against him in Amroha.

Two cases lodged against SP leader Brahma Shankar Tripathi in Deoria have also been withdrawn in recent weeks.

Prosecution officers have ensured a compromise in cases related to SP leader Veer Singh, son of slain dacoit Dadua, and SP MLAs Azeemul Haq Pehelwan and Tej Narain Pandey.

The Akhilesh government, interestingly, is extending its generosity to Opposition members also. A compromise has been forged in cases related to Peace Party MLA Akhilesh Singh and, in the case of Union minister Ram Shankar Katheria, the state government has given a clean chit to the Union minister in five criminal cases. The state government had ordered the withdrawal of these cases on April 1, 2013, on grounds of “public interest and interest of justice”.

The cases against Mr Katheria, then the local BJP MP, were registered during 2010-2011 at three police stations in Agra. He was booked on charges of rioting, attack on police team, causing hurt to deter a public servant from doing his duty, and wrongful confinement.

Besides these, there is a long list of Samajwadi workers, particularly from the youth wings, whose cases are in the process of being withdrawn.

Samajwadi spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary said false cases had been set up during the Mayawati regime against SP leaders and only these cases were being withdrawn.