Varun Gandhi withdraws anticipatory bail plea

New Delhi, March 27: The Delhi High Court Friday dismissed the anticipatory bail plea of Varun Gandhi after the lawyer for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate charged with making communal speeches withdrew the petition.

The lawyer said he was withdrawing the petition since the Allahabad High Court had already dismissed Varun Gandhi’s plea to quash the first information report (FIR) filed by the police in Pilbhit, the Uttar Pradesh constituency from which he is contesting in the April-May Lok Sabha poll.

With the court dismissing the plea, the Uttar Pradesh police are free to arrest Varun Gandhi after issuing a warrant against him.

The Delhi High Court had March 20 granted him anticipatory bail, which was set to expire Friday.

Varun Gandhi has been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the People’s Representative Act for ‘promoting enmity’ and acts ‘prejudicial to maintenance of harmony’ by police in Pilibhit.