HC grants personal exemption to Salman Khurshid for one day in trespass case

The Delhi High Court today granted exemption to former union minister Salman Khurshid from appearing before a trial court on April 5 in a trespass case in which he was summoned as an accused.

Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva granted the relief to the Congress leader for one hearing before the trial court and made it clear that his counsel shall remain present before the lower court and not seek any adjournment.

The court also asked the Delhi Police to file its response on Khurshid's plea seeking to quash the criminal proceedings against him for the alleged offence of trespassing in an office of Delhi Public School (DPS) society in south Delhi. It listed the matter for further hearing on May 9.

 

According to the police, the DPS Society had alleged that on March 30, 2015, Khurshid, along with one Sharda Nayak, had trespassed into the office of the society and she forcibly occupied the office of the Chairman.

Advocate Pramod Dubey, appearing for Khurshid, sought that the summons issued against the politician by the trial court on January 8, be quashed.

The plea alleged that the magistrate had passed the summoning order without application of mind. It said the police had filed a charge sheet in the case in February 2016 exonerating Khurshid, but filed a supplementary charge sheet in December 2017 naming him and five others as accused.

The Congress leader was neither named, nor any role was attributed to him in the FIR lodged on March 31, 2015 at Amar Colony police station here, the petition claimed, adding that he was a life member of the DPS Society on the date of the alleged incident and has the legal right to visit the society premises as a stakeholder.

He said no reason has been given by the trial court while summoning him and it has been done in a "casual manner".

The counsel for Delhi Police contended that the summoning order was passed in January and Khurshid has approached the high court only now.

"They took control of the premises of the society" and it was in the presence of Khurshid that Nayak announced herself as the society's chairperson, the DPS Society had stated, adding that Khurshid was part of a "well-planned conspiracy to illegally occupy and take over the premises of the society". Following the incident, an FIR was also lodged in the matter.