Nainital, Jan 28 (PTI) The Uttarakhand High Court on Tuesday took suo motu cognisance of the clash in Roorkee between independent MLA from Khanpur Umesh Kumar and former BJP MLA Kunwar Pranav Singh Champion, saying that the incident was "shameful and unforgivable".

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The high court directed the Haridwar district magistrate and senior superintendent of police to take strict action against the accused.

The vacation bench of Justice Rakesh Thapliyal said that the "display of muscle power in Devbhoomi is shameful and unforgivable".

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On Sunday, Champion arrived at his political rival Kumar's office in Khanpur, Roorkee along with his supporters, allegedly abused people around and fired at his office from outside several times in broad daylight. Kumar also wielded a gun in retaliation.

The high court expressed concern over non-compliance of the order passed by the Supreme Court in the case of Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay vs Union of India.

In this order, guidelines have been issued to stop the criminalization of politics.

On Tuesday, the high court directed the Haridwar DM and SSP to appear in the court through video conferencing in the post lunch session.

The DM and SSP submitted that current MLA Kumar and former MLA Champion were arrested.

While Champion is in jail, Umesh Kumar is out on bail.

The DM also said the arms licences of both the leaders have been cancelled and the government is in the process of removing the security provided to them.

It was also informed that 19 cases each are pending against both of them in various courts.

The high court fixed the next date of hearing on February 12 and directed the DM and SSP to take strict action against the accused. The court also asked for a report of criminal history of both the accused.

A court in Roorkee on Monday sent Champion, former BJP MLA from Khanpur, to 14 days' judicial custody for allegedly firing at the office of his political rival and present Khanpur legislator Kumar.

Independent MLA Kumar, who also wielded a gun in retaliation, was granted bail by another court.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)