HYDERABAD: In a relief to AIMIM president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, the Telangana High Court on Friday stayed criminal proceedings against him in the case pertaining to assault on Congress leader Mohammed Shabbir Ali during the GHMC elections in 2016.
Justice A Rajasheker Reddy passed this interim order in a petition filed by Asaduddin Owaisi with a plea to stay all further proceedings, including his appearance before the Special Court in Hyderabad, which deals with cases concerning MPs and MLAs.
The police had registered the said case in 2016, based on a complaint by Shabbir Ali alleging that Asaduddin Owaisi and his henchmen had attacked his car and inflicted injuries on him during his visit to Old City as part of his party’s election campaign.
The police had named Owaisi as accused number one and some of his followers as other accused in the FIR. Accordingly, a chargesheet was filed before the trial court. Denying the allegations, Owaisi had said that he was falsely implicated in the case.
Aggrieved, he filed the ongoing criminal revision petition before the High Court for relief.The counsel appearing for the petitioner MP told the High Court that there was no evidence to prove his client’s presence at the scene of offence nor his involvement in the alleged attack on the Congress leader.
After hearing the case, Justice Rajasheker Reddy stayed the criminal proceedings against the MP. The judge made it clear that this stay was applicable only to the petitioner and not to others named in the FIR. He issued notices to the respondent Shabbir Ali to respond to the contentions raised by Owaisi, and adjourned the case hearing by three weeks.
What the charges were
The police had registered the said case in 2016, based on a complaint by Shabbir Ali alleging that Asaduddin Owaisi and his henchmen had attacked his car and inflicted injuries on him during his visit to Old City as part of his party’s election campaign