Read Time: 04 minutes

Synopsis

The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday, April 23, 2024, extended the stay on proceedings against Samajwadi Party Chief and former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav for alleged violations of the model code of conduct and COVID-19 norms during events in 2022.

The bench of Justice Sanjay Kumar Singh passed the order in a bunch of connected pleas including applications under Section 482 CrPC filed by Ex-CM of Chhattisgarh Bhupesh Baghel, Congress leader Ajai Rai and Rashtriya Lok Dal Chief Jayant Chaudhary facing similar proceedings against them.

In pursuance of court's order dated April 16, 2024, Deepak Kumar, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) of the Government of Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow, submitted an affidavit before the single judge bench. He stated that due to the Model Code of Conduct for the 2024 Parliament Election being in force, the State Government is unable to take a policy decision on continuing criminal proceedings in the COVID violation cases.

Vinod Singh Rawat, Principal Secretary (Law), Government of Uttar Pradesh also filed a similar affidavit. He assured that he will provide all the necessary legal opinion required by the State Government in connection with taking the policy decision on the issue. 

In view of the affidavits, the high court listed the matter for next hearing on July 30, 2024 and for the mean time, it extended the interim orders granted in all the applications till then.

In the case against Akhilesh Yadav and Jayant Chaudhari, the first information report (FIR) was lodged against fourteen named accused persons including the SP leader and 300-400 unknown persons. It was alleged that on February 3, 2022, at 22.30 PM Akhilesh Yadav, along with co-accused Jayant Chaudhary, who were travelling from Luharli Gate, Gautam Budh Nagar in Samajwadi Rath (vehicle) towards Noida, were welcomed by the co-accused persons and during that process a large gathering had assembled. The guidelines of Covid-19 were violated, which endangered spreading of pandemic, the FIR stated. 

Case Title: Akhilesh Yadav v. State of U.P. and Another