SC directs UP court to provide Randeep Surjewala with legible copy of chargesheet

The Supreme Court directed a Varanasi court to provide Congress MP Randeep Singh Surjewala him with a legible copy of the chargesheet in the 23-year-old case against him

The Supreme Court on Monday directed an Uttar Pradesh court hearing a 23-year-old criminal case against Congress MP Randeep Singh Surjewala to provide him with a legible copy of the chargesheet in order to help him effectively argue his plea for discharge from the case.

A Bench of Justices B.R. Gavai and Vikram Nath made it clear that it has not made any comments on the merits of the case against Mr. Surjewala.

The Allahabad High Court had recently declined to quash the case pending before a court in Varanasi. The High Court had allowed Mr. Surjewala to apply for discharge before the lower court and had directed the lower court to decide it expeditiously within six weeks. It had also directed that no coercive action should be taken against the Rajya Sabha MP for a period of two months or till the disposal of the discharge application, whichever is earlier.

The case dates back to 2000 when Mr. Surjewala, who was the then national president of Youth Congress, was charged with allegedly creating ruckus while protesting against alleged false implication of Congress leaders in Samvasini scandal at Varanasi.

Mr. Surjewala, represented by senior advocate A.M. Singhvi, said he was neither served notice by the trial court in the case until August last year and nor was he given a legible copy of the chargesheet to prepare his case for discharge.

“I can only argue my case of discharge on the basis of the chargesheet,” Mr. Singhvi submitted.

At one point, Justice Nath orally observed that Mr. Surjewala was not appearing in the case for 20 years. “If the trial was delayed not because of you or had you been appearing in the case, it was liable to be quashed… That is not the case,” the judge said.