Former BJP MP Aakash Vijayvargiya and nine others were acquitted in the case of attacking a MP with a bat.

Indore: A special court on Monday acquitted former BJP MP Aakash Vijayvargiya, son of powerful Madhya Pradesh minister Kailash Vijayvargiya, in a case in which a building inspector of the Indore Municipal Corporation was allegedly attacked with a cricket bat in 2019.

Besides Aakash Vijayvargiya, a member of the BJP, which was in opposition at the time, nine other accused in the case were also acquitted by the special court set up to deal with criminal cases against MPs on various charges, including assault and intimidation, a defence lawyer said.

The special court was presided over by Justice Dev Kumar.

“The prosecution could not prove the charges in this case in court. Therefore, the court acquitted Vijayvargiya and nine others,” defence lawyer Udaypratap Singh Kushwah told reporters.

“Another defendant in the case was murdered (during the trial),” he said.

He said the authenticity of the alleged video of the incident could not be proven in court and the complaining municipal officer Dhirendra Singh Bayas and other witnesses did not clearly support the prosecution theory.

Charges were filed against then BJP MP Akash Vijayvargiya and ten others for allegedly beating municipal building inspector Bayas with a cricket bat on June 26, 2019.

The FIR was registered under sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter a public servant from discharge of his duty), 294 (insult), 323 (assault), 506 (criminal intimidation), 147 (sedition) and 148 (sedition with deadly weapons) of the Indian Penal Code.

The then MP from Indore was protesting against the demolition of a dilapidated house in Ganji Compound area of ​​the city when the alleged incident took place. At the time, a Congress government led by Chief Minister Kamal Nath was in power.

An alleged video of the incident went viral on social media and led to the arrest of Aakash Vijayvargiya, who was later released on bail by the court.