Ex-mayor gets interim relief

Aakanksha N Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, November 15

Former mayor Suresh Sehgal who had applied for anticipatory bail application has got interim relief from the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Sehgal had assaulted the building inspector Dinesh Joshi.

Joshi, after getting to know about the orders, said he was demoralised by the court judgment. MC building inspectors who were on a strike since November 1 also called off their protest after Mayor Jagdish Raja called them for a meeting.

Rupinder Singh Tiwana, the building inspector who was leading the protest, said the Mayor asked them to start the work as Gurpurb was also approaching.

“The Mayor has given us assurance that he is standing by our side,” Tiwana said.

The Mayor asked the staff to return to work as it was getting difficult to complete the works before Gurpurb. Lakhbir Singh, ATP, said the Mayor held a meeting with all staff members. Following which, the latter ended the agitation. Notably, the MC staff were on a continuous strike and had been demanding the arrest of the former mayor for assaulting the building inspector.

The order reads that the counsel for the petitioner contends that the allegations were that the building inspector was assaulted by the petitioner, who is 67 years old, and given fist blows on the face and the head.

Punjab and Haryana High Court Judge Kuldip Singh ordered: “The petitioner is directed to join the investigation and disclose all facts to the police and also produce documentary evidence available with him before the police, which will examine their veracity. In the event of arrest of the petitioner, he will be released on an interim bail to the satisfaction of the arresting officer.”

The next hearing in the case will be on December 13.

The case

Former mayor Suresh Sehgal had sparked a row by publicly hitting a building inspector and hurling abuses at him.

Demoralised by judgment, says victim

Joshi, after getting to know about the orders, said he was demoralised by the court judgment. MC building inspectors who were on a strike since November 1 also called off their protest after Mayor Jagdish Raja called them for a meeting.