By IANS,
Lucknow : The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) controversial candidate Varun Gandhi Tuesday appeared before the state advisory board for a final call on the National Security Act (NSA) that was slapped on him by the Uttar Pradesh government earlier this month.
Varun’s deposition before the three-member board took place in-camera at the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court around 4 p.m. and lasted for an hour. The board’s decision has been kept confidential.
Justice Pradeep Kant, senior judge of the Lucknow bench of the high court, led the board. Two retired high court judges P.K. Sarin and S.N. Sahai are the other two members of the board.
Varun, on a 15-day parole granted by the Supreme Court after 20-day jail over his alleged anti-Muslim speeches, avoided talking to the media while entering and leaving the court.
As the ultimate statutory authority on the NSA, the advisory board has the right to approve or revoke the government order invoking the act against Varun Gandhi, the BJP candidate from the Pilibhit Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh.
The verdict of the advisory board is final and if it chooses to revoke the NSA, Varun would be set free with immediate effect.
The law does not permit any NSA detenu to be accompanied by a lawyer before the advisory board.
Varun was charged with making highly inflammatory anti-Muslim utterances during his poll campaign in Pilibhit.