Arrest warrant against Uma Bharti stayed, hours after it was issued

A district court in Bhopal stayed an arrest warrant against Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti, barely hours after Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) issued the order in a case related to defamation charges filed by senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh.

The arrest order was issued because of Bharti’s repeated failure to record her statement in the case. The warrant was stayed after the minister’s counsel pleaded that Bharti was in Delhi to resolve the Cauvery water dispute, and hence could not attend the hearing.

Earlier, the CJM court had directed Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) to make sure that Bharti is present during the next hearing on October 19. The court order came in response to an application by Bharti’s lawyer under Section 317 of CrPC, which allows inquiries and trial in absence of the accused.

The case dates back to 2003, when Bharti had alleged that Singh was involved in a scam worth Rs.15000 crores during his 10-year tenure as Chief Minister. In 2014, Singh said that he would withdraw the defamation case, if Bharti apologised for levelling “false allegations”.