The High Court of Uttarakhand has rejected the petition filed by Khanpur MLA Pranav Singh ‘Champion’ seeking a stay on his arrest. The Jhabreda MLA Deshraj Karnwal had filed an FIR against Champion on December 12 at the Roorkee police station under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the SC/ST Act.
In the FIR it was stated that in April this year, the Khanpur MLA had addressed a Press conference in which he had made casteist comments at his Jhabreda counterpart and his wife. Deshraj had also accused the Khanpur MLA of threatening to shoot him. Stating that these allegations were baseless, the Khanpur MLA had approached the high court, seeking a stay on his arrest. Hearing the petition on Wednesday, the single bench of justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari rejected the petition. This development could not open the way for the MLA’s arrest. It is pertinent to mention that the Khanpur MLA and his Jhabreda counterpart were involved in making controversial statements against each other earlier this year.
While Champion had alleged that Karnwal had used a fake certificate to contest the election, the Jhabreda MLA had also levelled allegations at his Khanpur counterpart. Their extended tussle seemed to have been resolved after a meeting in the residence of the Chief Minister. However, shortly afterwards a video showing Champion dancing to filmy song in an allegedly drunk state while brandishing firearms and using abusive language went viral on the social media. After an internal probe, the BJP had expelled him for a period of six years in July.