Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Specially designated district and sessions court, Bhopal, has acquitted all the 21 accused in the case of blackening the face of the then SDM in Chaurai, Chhindwara. However, Rs 500 fine has been imposed on each one of them.
Congress workers in Chhindwara were booked under National Security Act (NSA) after they allegedly blackened the face of the SDM during a protest for flood-damage compensation to farmers. Twenty-two Congress workers were booked for attempted murder apart from the charges of assault and obstructing a government official.
The case was reported on September, 18 2020, when Congress leader Bunty Patel had reached the SDM office to submit a memorandum regarding the problems of the farmers. There was a dispute with the SDM regarding the submission of the memorandum. Thereafter, he along with other Congress leaders confronted him, started shouting slogans and blackened his face.
After the incident, the SDM lodged an FIR against 22 people including the former MLA. In the same case, Bunty Patel was made the main accused under Section 110 of IPC, but later the High Court removed Section 110 from Bunty Patel and cancelled the application of National Security Act (NSA) in the case.
This case went on in the Bhopal court for almost 2 years, where the court acquitted all the accused and imposed a fine on them.
Former MLA Chaudhary Gambhir Singh, Bunty Patel, Jamuna Soni, Sundar Patel, Chhabil Singh, Sadiq Ali, Mukesh Chaurasia, Anu Maheshwari, Ravi Thakur, Nitin Thakur, Neetu Thakur, Chandrajit Singh Thakur, Krishna Kumar Chauhan, Rajendra Patel, Ram Singh Chaudhary, Naveen Chaudhary, Ishwar Singh Chaudhary, Anmol Chaudhary, Ashish Soni Rakesh Patel, Swami Patel were acquitted, while another accused Rajendra Sharma has died.
Special prosecutor Kamal Verma said, “ 21 persons have been acquitted in the attempt to murder case but fined with Rs 500 under Section 147 and 148 of IPC for blackening the face of Chaurai SDM.”
