2018 Bulandshahr violence: Supreme Court stays bail to Bajrang Dal member

The Supreme Court on Monday stayed an order of the Allahabad High Court granting bail to Yogesh Raj, an accused person in the 2018 Bulandshahr mob lynching case, Bar and Bench reported.

Police officer Subodh Kumar Singh was among two people who were killed in the violence in December 2018.

The Supreme Court observed that it was a serious matter, as it involved the lynching of a police officer on the pretext of cow slaughter. “Prima facie, it is a case of people taking law into their own hand,” a bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and MM Sundresh said.

The bench directed Raj to surrender within seven days. The court also sought a report from the trial court on how much time it would need to frame charges against the accused persons and to record the testimony of witnesses, Live Law reported.

The Allahabad High Court had granted bail to Raj in September 2019 on the grounds of parity as other accused persons had also been granted bail.

Singh’s wife Rajni Singh had appealed against the High Court in the Supreme Court. The petitioner contended that there was a risk that Raj may escape, and that he may also influence witnesses during the trial.

Raj’s lawyer Pashupati Nath Razdan claimed that his client was only protesting against cow slaughter, and that there…

Read more