New Delhi, May 14 (Inditop) The Supreme Court Thursday ordered the Uttar Pradesh government to scrap the imposition of the National Security Act (NSA) against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member Varun Gandhi.
A bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan ordered the Mayawati government to revoke the imposition of the NSA, telling the Mayawati government that it has “no ground to challenge” the state advisory board’s decision to scrap the imposition of the act against Gandhi.
The NSA had been slapped on Gandhi March 29, a day after he was imprisoned on charges of delivering poll speeches vilifying Muslims.
“The BJP welcomes the Supreme Court decision. The party has always maintained that the NSA slapped on Varun Gandhi was untenable under the scrutiny of law. What we saw in Uttar Pradesh and the centre is misuse of power…they were playing vote bank politics,” BJP spokesperson Sidharth Nath Singh told IANS.
In his petition to the apex court, the BJP candidate from the Pilibhit constituency in Uttar Pradesh demanded a compensation of Rs.1 million for his detention for over a fortnight.
The Uttar Pradesh government had moved the Supreme Court Tuesday, challenging the advisory board’s May 8 decision to cancel the invocation of the NSA against Gandhi.
The advisory panel, a judicial forum under the Allahabad High Court, had said the step to impose the act against Gandhi was too harsh.
“The Supreme Court has found the application (of the Uttar Pradesh government) untenable and dismissed the NSA orders forthwith. This should have been done on the advice of the advisory board by the state government. However, better late than never. We welcome the order,” said Gandhi’s aunt Ambika Shukla.
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