Accused of stalking, Haryana BJP leader's son appointed law officer

BJP MP Subhash Barala's son Vikas Barala, accused in a case of stalking, has been appointed as a law officer in the office of the Haryana advocate general, officials said on Wednesday.

He has been appointed as an assistant advocate general and will represent the state government before judicial platforms in the national capital. His appointment is part of a broader recruitment of 100 law officers by the government, which was officially notified on July 18.

The incident leading to the charges against Vikas occurred in 2017 when his father was the Haryana BJP chief.


Vikas and his friend Ashish Kumar had been charged with stalking and attempting to kidnap a senior IAS officer's daughter by a court here in October 2017. The trial in the case is ongoing before a Chandigarh court.

The complaint in the matter was filed by the daughter of a senior IAS officer, who was 29 at the time of the incident. She had then accused the men of stalking and attempting to abduct her.

On August 5, 2017, Vikas, who was 23 at the time and a law student, along with Kumar, had allegedly followed the complainant's car in their SUV and tried to block the way.

The charges against them were framed under various Sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including 354d (stalking), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 365 read with 511 (attempt to kidnap).

Initially arrested on the night of August 4-5, 2017, they were released on bail as their charges were bailable under the IPC and the Motor Vehicles Act. They were later re-arrested on August 9, 2017, after cooperating with the investigation, but received bail again from the high court in January 2018.

Vikas appeared for a law examination on December 18, 2017, while in police custody, after being granted bail specifically to take his exams.

In June, the state government had constituted a 'selection committee' under the Haryana Law Officers (Engagement) Act, 2016 for finalisation of the selection process for engagement of 100 law officers -- which included 20 Additional Advocate Generals, 20 Senior Deputy Advocate Generals, 30 Deputy Advocate Generals and 30 Assistant Advocate Generals, in pursuance to advertisement dated January 31.

Haryana's Advocate General, Parvindra Chauhan and Vikas Barala were not reachable for comments on the appointment.