Court allows UP govt's plea to withdraw case against Akhilesh

A court here has allowed a plea of the Uttar Pradesh government to withdraw a case of violation of Model Code of Conduct against Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and three other Samajwadi Party leaders during the 2007 Assembly polls.
Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Jitender Kumar yesterday permitted the application filed by the prosecution on behalf the state government to withdraw the case of violation of Model Code of Conduct.
Last year the state government had decided to withdraw the case in "public interest" and informed the district authorities to file a plea for permission in this regard in the court.

According to the prosecution, on the directive of the Election Commission, police had registered a case against Akhilesh, the then SP candidate Pramode Tyagi and party leaders Rajkumar Haji Akhlak and Sanjay Singh on September 1, 2007.
It was alleged that Akhilesh Yadav had come with a large cavalcade to campaign in Khatoli in support of Tyagi, which was in violation of the rules.
One of the accused died during the course of the trial.