Removal of BJP flag from MLA's car: AMU to move SC

Aligarh (Uttar Pradesh), Nov 23 The Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) has now decided to file a petition in the Supreme Court after the Allahabad High Court rejected the petition of its 12-member proctorial team for quashing of criminal proceedings against them in the case of preventing BJP MLA Dalveer Singh's vehicle from entering the campus premises with a party flag on it and allegedly abusing its driver.

AMU spokesperson Shafey Kidwai said, "According to the university's rule, no vehicle bearing flags of political parties is allowed inside the campus. The proctorial staff were only doing their duty when they stopped the said vehicle."

The 12-member proctorial team had earlier moved the HC challenging criminal proceedings pending against them in the court of the chief judicial magistrate in Aligarh.

However, last week, the HC dismissed the petition filed by Professor Brij Bhushan Singh and 11 other members, on grounds that the presence of the accused at the place of the incident is not disputed.

Therefore, whether they abused the 'victim' or not can only be determined by the trial court after going through the evidence placed before it, the court observed.

The petitioners' counsel referred to certain circulars of the university banning the use of flagged vehicles of any political party on the university campus.

The state government counsel argued that the offence was 'serious' and could have wider ramifications on law and order.

It may be recalled that the incident took place last year on October 22, when Guddu, the driver of the BJP MLA Dalveer Singh from Barauli constituency of Aligarh, went to pick up Singh's grandson, Vijay, from the varsity, but was allegedly stopped by the AMU proctorial team at the main gate.

According to the FIR, the staff members took him out of the car and forced him to remove the party's flag from the vehicle before allowing it to enter the campus. The complainant also stated that when he opposed their move, the proctorial team members allegedly abused him, saying that "BJP members are not allowed in the campus."

The FIR of this incident was registered under sections 342 (wrongful confinement) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of IPC on the basis of a complaint filed by the MLA's driver Guddu at the Civil Lines police station on the same day.

( With inputs from IANS )