By IANS,
New Delhi : The Supreme Court Thursday issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh government seeking justification for detaining Bharatiya Janata Party leader Varun Gandhi under the National Security Act (NSA).
A bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justice P. Sathasivam, after issuing the notice to the state government, adjourned the matter to April 13 for the next hearing. Varun Gandhi, who was put in jail March 28 for his alleged hate speeches, had Wednesday approached the apex court to challenge his detention under the NSA.
The bench also indicated that releasing Varun Gandhi on bail a few days before the last date of filing nominations from the Pilibhit parliamentary constituency in Uttar Pradesh April 16 should not be a problem.
“The nomination should not be a problem,” observed the chief justice while hearing his lawyer and former additional solicitor general Mukul Rohtagi’s plea to quash the invocation of the preventive detention act, NSA, against his client.
In his plea, Rohtagi cited several alleged illegalities resorted to by the Uttar Pradesh government in invoking NSA against Varun Gandhi.
NSA was slapped against Varun Gandhi for ‘inciting violence’ prior to his arrest in Pilibhit. He was moved to Uttar Pradesh’s Etah jail early Wednesday from Pilibhit for security reasons.