KOLKATA: A Cooch Behar court in West Bengal on Friday issued an arrest warrant against Union Minister of State (Minority Affairs) John Barla over an alleged violation of the model code of conduct in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
“The Tufanganj court issued a summons asking Barla to appear before the magistrate by November 15. But the minister failed to comply. The warrant was issued for contempt of court,’’ a police officer said.
Barla is accused of holding a rally in front of the office of the block development officer before while the model code of conduct was in place. The Election Commission officials had then lodged a complaint with Bakshirhat police station.
Barla said that he would challenge the arrest warrant in the higher court. Earlier this month, Alipurduar court also issued an arrest warrant against Union Minister of State (Home) Nisith Pramanik in a 13-year-old theft case after his lawyer failed to be present in the court on November 11.