New Delhi, Jun 5 (PTI) A court here on Thursday refused to take cognisance of a chargesheet against Congress leader Udit Raj in a case of allegedly disobeying a Delhi Police prohibitory order while holding a protest at the house of former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Neha Mittal said there was nothing on record to show that the accused had knowledge of the order issued by the concerned ACP.

Raj, along with a few others, staged a protest near Kejriwal’s residence on January 20, demanding a monthly salary for Buddhist monks and priests of Guru Ravidas and Valmiki temples.

According to police, Raj’s protest caused traffic congestion and inconvenience to commuters.

The protesters were informed about the prohibitory order and the Model Code of Conduct through a loudspeaker but they did not relent.

“In the present case, there is nothing on record to show that the accused had knowledge of the order issued by the concerned ACP. It has been vaguely averred in the complaint that the accused kept on raising the slogans despite announcement on loudhailer regarding the imposition of Section 163 BNSS by senior police officers.

“However, neither any such police officer has been named in the entire chargesheet who apparently made the announcement nor their statement under Section 180 BNSS has been recorded,” the judge said.

Further, in the video recording of the incident placed on record, no such warning can be heard, she noted.

“It is also pertinent to note that there is no evidence on record regarding the identity of the accused. Despite the fact that the incident in question was videographed by the police officials, the accused cannot be seen in the entire video,” she added.

“In view of the above discussion, this court is of the considered opinion that there does not exist sufficient ground for taking cognisance of the offence punishable under Section 223 BNS. No other offence appears to (have been) made out from the chargesheet. Accordingly, cognisance in the present case is declined,” the judge said. PTI UK DIV DIV