Allahabad HC dismisses petitions against withdrawal of cases

Allahabad: The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday dismissed two writ petitions for direction to the Uttar Pradesh government against withdrawing cases against various accused of 2006 Varanasi blasts and 2007 Rampur CRPF camp attack.

Rejecting the pleas, a division bench of Chief Justice Shiva Kirti Singh and Justice Dilip Gupta held that the plea was "premature" under the light of state government`s submission that "no application has been filed yet" for withdrawing the cases. "Withdrawal is always subject to the consent of the court where a case is pending," the court said. "We think no interference is required at this stage though it goes without saying that the court concerned shall have to exercise caution if any application for withdrawal of cases is filed," it further said. Varanasi resident Nityanand Chaubey, in his petitions, had alleged that the state government had initiated the process for withdrawal of cases against those accused in the Varanasi blasts of March 7, 2006 and the attack on a CRPF camp in Rampur district on December 31, 2007. The petitioner had said that the ruling Samajwadi Party had made a promise to the electorate prior to the Assembly polls earlier this year, that after coming to power, it would withdraw criminal cases against youths across the state who appeared to have been falsely implicated. PTI