In a major relief to the Karnal Congress candidate Divyanshu Budhiraja, a Panchkula court on Friday granted him bail in connection with a 2018 property defacement case in which he had been declared a proclaimed offender.

Divyanshu, 31, who is the president of the Haryana Youth Congress and is contesting against former Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar of the BJP in the May 25 election, had surrendered before the court a few hours before he was let off on bail. The court of judicial magistrate Arunima Chauhan granted him bail after he furnished a bail bond of Rs 40,000 and a surety of the like amount.

Divyanshu, who was booked for defacement of property in 2018 after he had put up posters regarding unemployment in the state, was declared a proclaimed offender by a Panchkula court on December 15, 2023 after he failed to appear before the court repeatedly.

A criminal case was registered against him at the Sector-14 police station in Panchkula on January 28, 2018, under the Haryana Prevention of Defacement of Property Act.

A fresh FIR was registered for his failure to appear before the Panchkula court under Section 174-A (failure to appear before court) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) upon the court order by the Sector 14 police station of Panchkula on January 3, 2024.

Divyanshu had even moved the Punjab and Haryana high court, seeking quashing of the charges against him. In his plea, he had termed the 2018 FIR the result of political vendetta and blamed the police for his failure to appear in the proceedings, which resulted in the court declaring him a proclaimed offender. He had sought quashing of the January 3 FIR and consequent proceedings.

Talking to reporters, after getting bail, Divyanshu said, “It was a conspiracy to malign me. Those cases that were being talked about I had taken on for people but today the court has given me bail.” AGENCIES