Nuh violence: Haryana MLA Mamman Khan moves High Court seeking protection from potential false implication and arrest
Saurabh Malik
Chandigarh, September 12
Mamman Khan, MLA from Ferozepur Jhirka constituency in Haryana, today moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court, seeking protection from potential false implication and his arrest in connection with the recent outbreak of violence in Nuh district. Directions were also sought for constituting a high-level special investigation team (SIT) for investigating the cases registered following incidents of violence on July 30 in Nuh district.
Among other things, Mamman Khan alleged: “It is common knowledge that post unfortunate incident of violence of Nuh, the blame game started. In order to divert the attention of the people from the failure of the government to prevent the occurrence, the high functionaries of the State, including the Chief Minister and the Home Minister started blaming the opposition. Their statements started to appear in the newspapers blaming the MLAs of the Congress party for the occurrence”.
Elaborating on the reasons behind implicating the petitioner as a part of the process, his counsels Arshdeep Singh Cheema and Ishan Khetarpal contended their recent public statements left no manner of doubt that the investigation was being hijacked and guided towards a preconceived direction with the objective of concealing its own incompetence and failure.
The state government was now attempting to transfer the blame on political opponents by falsely implicating the petitioner in the instant case as it failed to control the outbreak of violence and was blamed by all sides for mishandling the situation, they said.
Cheema also gave a detailed account of the MLA’s whereabouts during the period the violence occurred highlighting that the petitioner was not present in the affected areas and had been at his Gurugram residence. The petitioner further provided evidence of his movements, including CCTV footage and bills to support his claims.
Cheema contended the government’s actions violated principles of fair investigation, while seeking directions for formation of a high-level SIT, comprising senior officers, to investigate the cases related to the violence. Directions were also sought for ensuring that the SIT conducted independent and objective investigation without interference from the political executive. Directions were also sought to the investigating agency not to take any coercive steps against the petitioner during the investigation. The petition was today registered in the high court is expected to come up for hearing in the coming days.
