India News | Tendering Resignation as False Cases Slapped on Me: NCP MLA Awhad; Not Received It, Says Maha Speaker
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Jitendra Awhad, facing the molestation charge, on Monday said he has tendered his resignation condemning "false cases" registered against him and addressed it to Speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly.
Mumbai, Nov 14 (PTI) Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Jitendra Awhad, facing the molestation charge, on Monday said he has tendered his resignation condemning "false cases" registered against him and addressed it to Speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly.
Speaker Rahul Narvekar, however, told PTI that Awhad has not physically submitted his resignation letter to the Speaker's office, which is required as per the rules of the House.
In his resignation letter, the Mumbra-Kalwa MLA stated he was tendering resignation condemning false cases registered against him.
The Mumbra police registered a case after midnight on Monday against Awhad under Indian Penal Code section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) on the complaint of a woman.
The complainant alleged the Mumbra-Kalwa MLA pushed her while making way for himself during the dispersal of the crowd after an event of chief minister Eknath Shinde in Mumbra on Sunday evening, as per the First Information Report (FIR).
Awhad, a former state minister, has denied the charge in a press conference.
In his letter, the MLA stated he had merely asked a BJP woman party worker (the complainant) to move aside as he was moving away from the vehicle in which Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde was sitting.
The video footage of the incident shows Awhad speaking with CM Shinde and as he moved away from the vehicle, surrounded by people, the NCP leader asked a woman to move away using his hands and proceeded further.
“I told her why was she trying to approach in such a rush and crowded place. Please make way for me. However, I did not know what happened during midnight and the police invoked IPC 354 against me and a case was filed at the police station.
“The video footage of the entire incident is self-explanatory. Had the police seen the video, they would not have filed a complaint against me. I condemn false cases registered against me and tendering my resignation,” Awhad stated.
Notably, the MLA was arrested on Friday after he and his supporters stopped a show of the Marathi movie "Har Har Mahadev" at a multiplex inside a mall in Thane city, alleging the film distorted the history of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
An FIR was registered over the incident at Vartak Nagar police station in Thane under Indian Penal Code sections 323 (assault) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace).
Awhad was granted bail by a court on Saturday in that case.
“I was asked by the local police to visit (police station) but instead an arrest was shown. I was not even taken to the court on the same evening,” he stated referring to his arrest on Friday.
(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)