Muzaffarnagar (UP), Aug 26 (PTI) A special court here on Thursday rejected a plea by the Uttar Pradesh government to withdraw a case filed against BJP MLA Umesh Malik, citing the Supreme Court's order that no prosecution against an MP or an MLA would be withdrawn without the permission of the high courts.

Malik, the MLA from Budhana, surrendered in the court on Thursday and sought recall of the non-bailable warrant issued against him.

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Police had registered a case against several people, including the MLA, under IPC sections 147 (punishment for rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon) and 149 (unlawful assembly), among others following a demonstration outside a meat factory on the Jansath road in the district in 2006.

On the basis of the apex court's order, judge Gopal Upadhyay rejected the UP government's application to withdraw the case filed against Malik.

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Earlier this month, the Supreme Court had ordered that state prosecutors cannot withdraw prosecution against the lawmakers under Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) without prior sanction from high courts.

The apex court's order assumed significance in view of the fact, highlighted by an amicus curiae on the basis of news reports, that states like Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra and Karnataka have sought to withdraw criminal cases against politicians by using section 321 of the CrPC which empowers prosecutors to withdraw cases.

The UP government had decided to withdraw the case against Malik and others on February 22, 2021 and on a directive of the government, the prosecution had filed the application in the court to withdraw the case.

(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)