Uttarakhand HC grants bail to 3 accused in Khurshid's house vandalisation case

The accused were identified as Umesh Mehta, Rajkumar Mehta, and Krishan Singh, who was arrested for attempting arson and firing at the Congress leader. The matter was being heard by a single bench of Justice RC Khulbe.

Nainital:The Uttarakhand High Court on Wednesday granted bail to three accused who vandalized Salman Khurshid's house in Nainital in November.

The accused were identified as Umesh Mehta, Rajkumar Mehta, and Krishan Singh, who was arrested for attempting arson and firing at the Congress leader. The matter was being heard by a single bench of Justice RC Khulbe.

The accused in their bail plea said that they were not involved in the crime and that the incident was in fact carried out by some politically charged perpetrators. The plea also stated that the arrested have been wrongly implicated in this case, while their names are also not registered in the FIR. They also cited no criminal records as a reason for them to be released on bail.

On November 15, some right-wing organizations demonstrated violent protest outside the residence of former Union Minister Salman Khurshid in Satkhol (Satoli) over his comments on Hindutva in his new book 'Sunrise Over Ayodhya: Nationhood in Our Times'.

The demonstration flared up when the protestors started arson-stone pelting and firing. A complaint was lodged at the Bhowali police station by Khurshid's caretaker, wherein he reported that several people entered the house and beat up his family members. He also claimed that the family received death threats while gun shots were fired inside their house.

The police thereafter registered a case against unknown people under sections 147, 148, 452, 436, and 506 of the IPC.

After which the police arrested some people on November 18. The case went to trial, wherein the bail plea of the arrested was rejected by the trial court. The petition was filed in the High Court after that.