Pawar slapper`s judicial custody extended

A Delhi court extended by 14 days the judicial custody of Harvinder Singh who had slapped Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar at a function here.

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Friday extended by 14
days the judicial custody of Harvinder Singh who had slapped
Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar at a function here.

Singh, who has been ordered to remain in the Institute of
Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IHBAS) till December 12
for examination of his mental condition, was produced before
the court after the expiry of his judicial remand.
"The judicial custody of the accused is extended till
December 23," Metropolitan Magistrate Jasjeet Kaur said.

Singh was admitted at IHBAS for tests on December 2 as
per the court`s directive and the magistrate had asked the
medical superintendent of the Institute to authorise a doctor
to personally produce his reports.

Singh`s bail plea is listed for hearing on December 12.

Seeking bail, the counsel for Singh said the accused was
undergoing psychiatric treatment for the last four years and
as per a Supreme Court order, a mentally challenged person
cannot be held guilty even for murder.

The lawyer argued Singh was being persecuted only because
he slapped a Union minister and an influential person while no
case was registered against him for slapping former Telecom
Minister Sukh Ram.
The prosecutor had, however, opposed his bail saying he
was a threat to society and cannot be allowed to roam free.

Singh, a small-time transporter, had assaulted Pawar on
November 24 outside an auditorium on Parliament Street after a
public function, saying it was a protest against price rise
and corruption. Private security guards overpowered Singh
after the incident.

Singh had also attacked Sukh Ram outside a court here on
November 19 after he was sentenced to five years in jail in a
1996 corruption case.

PTI

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