Covid norms violation case: Sanjay Singh fails to appear before UP court

Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh did not appear before an MP-MLA court on Saturday, 28 June in a 2021 COVID-19 norms violation case, citing his preoccupation with the ongoing Parliament session. The court will now hear the matter on 6 July.

Sanjay Singh’s advocate Madan Singh said his client could not appear before the special MP-MLA court due to the ongoing Parliament session.

An application on his absence was filed in the court, which fixed 6 July as the next date of hearing.

During the last hearing, the court had issued a bailable warrant against Sanjay Singh for skipping several hearings and fixed 29 June as the next date of hearing.

Special public prosecutor Vaibhav Pandey said that on 13 April, 2021, an FIR was registered against Sanjay Singh at Bandhu Kala police station alleging that he held a meeting in Hasanpur village in favour of the AAP’s district panchayat member Salma Begum.

Around 50 people attended the meeting that was held during the Covid-19 pandemic without taking permission from the local administration, Pandey said. He said this public meeting violated the Epidemic Act and the Election Code of Conduct.

After an investigation, police filed a charge sheet against Sanjay Singh, Maqsood Ansari, Salim Ansari, Jagdish Yadav, Maqsood, Sukai, Dharmaraj, Zeeshan, Shaban, Sikandar, Jalil and Ajay. While the other accused got bail in the case, the AAP leader did not appear in court, Pandey said.