HC rejects AAP plea to issue notice to PM Modi in affidavit case

AHMEDABAD: Upholding the order of a trial court, the Gujarat High Court rejected an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) member's plea seeking issuance of notice to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in connection with his affidavit filed before the 2012 Gujarat state assembly election.

Justice J B Pardiwala turned down AAP member Nishant Verma's application saying that issuance of notice is the jurisdiction of the sessions court.

Verma had challenged a sessions court order and demanded issuance of notices to Modi and returning officer P K Jadeja of the Maninagar assembly seat in 2012.

"I do not find any good reason to interfere with the order passed by the revisional court (sessions court). I am sure that while disposing of the criminal revision application (of Verma before the session court), the learned judge would keep in mind the provisions of Section 401 (2) of the code," Justice JB Pardiwala said in his order.

"In the result, this petition fails and is hereby rejected. I clarify that I have otherwise not gone into the merit of the matter. The revision application shall be decided on its own merit without being influenced in any manner by any of the observations made by this court in this order," the order said.

In his main plea, which is pending before the sessions court, Verma had sought legal action against Modi and Jadeja in the 2012 affidavit case.

Later, he demanded summoning of both Modi and Jadeja before the court, which was rejected on October 10 by Additional Sessions Judge G N Rana, after which he approached the Gujarat High Court.