Main accused in Salman Kurshid's residence vandalism case seeks stay on his arrest

Kundan Singh Chilwal, a local leader BJP leader, has filed a petition before the Uttarakhand High Court seeking stay orders against the state police from arresting him in a case relating to vandalism of Congress leader Salman Khurshid house on November 15.

Nainital: The petition of Kundan Singh Chilwal, a local BJP leader and prime accused in vandalising Congress leader Salaman Kurshid House seeking a stay order against the police from arresting him has been adjourned to November 29.

When the petition came up for hearing before the bench of Justice Alok Kumar Verma on Friday, the petitioner's counsel argued that Chilwal was not present at the scene when the vandalism took place.

He cited a police report that alleged Chilwal led the mob that vandalised the house, insisting that his client did lead a protest 100 metres from Khurshid’s house and left. "He rushed to the scene soon after he learnt about the vandalism and even helped douse the fire," the advocate said.

He submitted that the petitioner was not involved in the incident. "I am being implicated in this case by some people due to political reasons," Chilwal submitted. Khurshid's advocates who objected to the submission claimed that Kundan Singh Chilwal was the main accused and that he was the one who led the vandalism.

They added that Khurshid has incurred a huge loss as a result. The advocate representing the petitioner insisted on a stay citing that his client did not have any role in the attack on Khurshid’s house, which was later set afire by a group of miscreants.

While the people have made some arrests in the case, the prime suspect Chilwal is at large. The court which did not provide any interim relief deferred the hearing to Saturday for Khurshid's advocates to advance their arguments.

However, the advocates sought more time to prepare their arguments. Therefore, the Judge deferred the further hearing to November 29.

It may be recalled that Salman Khurshid has commented on Hindutva in his new book 'Sunrise over Ayodhya: Nationhood in Our Times'. In the book, he compared Hindutva to the jihadi group ISIS and 'Boko Haram'. The Congress leader's house was vandalised on November 15 by a mob that was agitating against his book.