On June 28, petitioners Jagdeep Rana and Rajkumar Madan, seated in the visitors' gallery, had thrown pamphlets and raised 'Inquilab Zindabad' slogans in the Delhi Assembly
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday issued a notice to Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel, seeking a response on a petition challenging the imprisonment of two youths for throwing pamphlets and raising slogans in the Assembly.
On June 28, petitioners Jagdeep Rana and Rajkumar Madan, seated in the visitors' gallery, had thrown pamphlets and raised 'Inquilab Zindabad' slogans in the Delhi Assembly. While they were being marshalled out on the directions of Goel, AAP MLAs had thrashed them. Goel later ordered that they be sent to prison for 30 days.
A Bench of Justices of Siddharth Mridul and Najimi Waziri also issued a production warrant to the duo, making sure they are present in court on the next date of hearing, i.e., July 17. In addition, a notice was served to the Director General of Tihar Jail, where Rana and Madan are lodged.
The court again questioned the maintainability of the plea filed by the duo and asked them to prove that their detention was 'illegal'. "The rules provide for detention. If you can show that the detention is illegal, it would be set aside immediately," the Bench stated.
The petitioners had claimed the Speaker's order was 'absolutely illegal and violates the principle of natural justice, which cannot be sustained' and thus should be cancelled.
According to them, they were in hospital and were not given a chance to put forth their version of the incident. Appearing for the government, Rahul Mehra had, however, said on Monday that the duo's version was not taken because the incident had occured in front of all legislators.
The petitioners' plea had stated: "They wanted to attract attention of the party and the government to some glaring issues. They had no intention to breach the privilege of the Legislative Assembly or to commit contempt of the same. The petitioners were discriminated against and were awarded the sentence without following the due process."
The plea added that the Legislative Assembly did not have the power to grant rigorous imprisonment and that it was also not recorded as to why other modes of sentencing, as prescribed in the rules, were not adopted.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Ram Niwas Goel")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}