Nainital, Feb 13 (PTI) The Uttarakhand High Court on Thursday heard a suo motu application against the public showdown between independent Khanpur MLA Umesh Kumar and former BJP MLA from the constituency Kunwar Pranav Singh Champion.
A single-judge bench of the high court of Justice Rakesh Thapliyal had taken cognizance of the matter and asked the government to file a reply.
The government apprised the court of previous criminal proceedings pending against former MLA Kunwar Pranav Singh “Champion” and sitting MLA of Khanpur Umesh Sharma.
The conduct of the prosecution officer was also questioned since information of the criminal history of the accused was not provided to the court before as per procedure.
The process of cancelling the allotment of the irrigation department’s residences in Haridwar made to Kumar and Champion have started, the government said.
The court was informed that the monthly rent of the government accommodation allotted to Champion is Rs 9,209 per month and the monthly rent of the government accommodation allotted to the MLA Sharma is Rs 1,693 per month.
An advocate apprised the court that the rent of these rooms should be at least Rs 70,000 per month.
The government informed the high court that a committee has been formed to review the security given to both the public representatives.
The high court will scrutinise the proceedings against the accused in future as well.
Political rivalry between Champion and Kumar took a violent turn late last month when Champion fired several rounds at the latter’s camp office in his absence in broad a daylight and threatened his supporters who were present.
Kumar reacted in a similar manner running with a gun in hand to retaliate but his supporters calmed him down. Both of them were arrested after the incident.
However, Champion was sent to jail under judicial custody while Kumar was granted bail. PTI Cor ALM ALM SKY SKY
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