PANCHKULA/DHARAMSHALA: In a face-saving exercise, the Himachal Pradesh Congress on Tuesday forced its on-the-run MLA from Doon constituency Ram Kumar Chaudhary, wanted in a murder case of a dalit woman, to surrender before a Panchkula magistrate hours before the party's newly-elected legislators took oath at Dharamshala.
A police team had been camping in Dharamshala for the past few days to nab the MLA if he arrives for the swearing-in ceremony. The Panchkula police on Monday had announced a reward of Rs 2 lakh for any information on Chaudhary.
Anticipating an embarrassing situation in the HP assembly as the Opposition BJP was planning to target the Congress for protecting a MLA accused of murder, the ruling party apparently asked Chaudhary to surrender before the start of the session on Tuesday morning.
The 42-year-old MLA, who is one of the four accused in the murder of 24-year-old Jyoti Devi, arrived in the court of chief judicial magistrate Bhavna Jain around 10.30am. He was accompanied by his lawyer. Soon, a police team reached there and took the MLA into custody with the permission of the court.
Later in the afternoon, the cops brought him to the court seeking police remand. However, the MLA's attempt to avoid media drew the court's flak this time as Chaudhary, was brought to the courtroom through the backdoor which is normally used by the judges. After hearing the arguments of both the sides, the court remanded Chaudhary in police custody for six days.
The body of Jyoti, a resident of Hoshiarpur, was found in Sector 21 in Panchkula on November 22. A Panchkula court had issued arrest warrants against Chaudhary and his three associates - Dharampal, Paramjeet and Gurmeet - on December 20, 2012.
When asked about Chaudhary's expulsion from the party following his surrender before the court, chief minister Virbhadra Singh said in Dharamshala that law will take its course.
"This case has affected the party's image but it will not have any impact on the stability of the government. He can take oath later, even in the room of the Speaker, but it would have been better had he surrendered earlier," he said after the oath-taking ceremony of new MLAs.
Leader of the Opposition Prem Kumar Dhumal said, "We will not say anything about the Congress party's stand over the accused legislature. But it is not proper for a sitting legislature to go against the law."
Absconding Himachal MLA surrenders
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Absconding Himachal MLA surrenders
