The Uttar Pradesh government has ordered a case from 1995 against Chief Minister Adityanath and 12 others be withdrawn, The Indian Express reported on Wednesday. Adityanath, a Union minister, a Bharatiya Janata Party MLA and 10 others were booked for violating prohibitory orders in Gorakhpur in 1995 by holding a meeting.
On December 20, the state government sent a letter to Gorakhpur District Magistrate Rajeev Rautela, asking him to file an application to withdraw the cases against Adityanath, Union Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla and BJP’s MLA from Sahajanwa, Sheetal Pandey.
“I have received the state government letter directing that a withdrawal application be filed in the court,” Prosecution Officer BD Mishra said. “The application sent by the state government has 13 names including Adityanath.”
The case is pending in a local court. In 2015, the court had directed that non-bailable warrants be issued against the accused for failing to appear before the bench. “The court had ordered non-bailable warrants against all accused but the warrants were not issued then,” Mishra said. “We will move the withdrawal application in the court after the winter vacation.”
Union Minister Shiv Pratap Shukla told The Indian Express that he was unaware of any non-bailable warrant against him. “I do not recall the meeting [in Gorakhpur in 1995]. The matter is 22-years-old,” he added.
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