Murder accused in Jyoti murder case, Doon legislature Ram Kumar Chaudhary won’t be able to attend the budget session of Himachal Vidhan Sabha as the Punjab and Haryana high court has dismissed his petition seeking release from the Ambala central jail to attend the session.
The High Court observed that it’ll be inappropriate to exercise the discretion under constitutional provisions to grant permission to an accused of a serious offence to attend the parliamentary session solely on the foundation that he enjoys exclusive privilege to participate in the proceedings of the House to meet the constitutional obligation.
The court said the high court could not exercise the power under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) to permit members of the legislative assembly or Parliament to attend the session in custody.
In his petition, murder accused legislature had pleaded that he had a right to attend the fifth session. He further argued that he was compelled to absent himself from four sessions. Referring to constitutional provisions, Chaudhary added the House might declare the seat vacant on account of his absence for more than 60 days without permission.