Maoist leader Kobad Ghandy produced before local court

Patiala, October 13

Kobad Ghandy, leader of the banned outfit CPI (Maoist), was produced before a local court in connection with the case registered against him by the Patiala police for delivering anti-national speeches at Punjabi University in 2010.

During the proceedings, the prosecution produced witness Shankar, a member of the investigating team of the Hyderabad police, deposed before the court through videoconferencing. The Maoist leader was brought here from the Hyderabad jail last evening and kept at a police station. As the court decided to continue the hearing for the next two days, Ghandy was sent to the Central Jail.Ghandy was booked in January 2010 by the Patiala police under the Sections 10, 13, 18 and 20 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and Sections 419 and 120-B of the IPC for holding meetings on the premises of Punjabi University in April and May 2009 to promote the Maoist ideology.

Earlier, one his associates, Bacha Yadav, who was also facing charges under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), was discharged by the court for want of prosecution sanction from the Union Government. He was released from the Central Jail in June.Ghandy was arrested by the Delhi Police in September 2009. He had later moved a bail plea in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which was rejected. He had pleaded that he was booked for delivering a lecture on Punjabi University Patiala campus in April and May of 2009 and at that time the CPI (Maoist) was not a banned outfit. The CPI (Maoist) was banned on June 22, 2009, he had argued.

Source: http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/chandigarh/courts/maoist-leader-kobad-ghandy-produced-before-local-court/309269.html