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Chandigarh, Oct 15 (IANS) A day after a standoff between Chandigarh Police and Punjab Police over his custody, Janata Party president Navneet Chaturvedi, who allegedly forged signatures of MLAs on nomination papers for the lone Rajya Sabha seat, on Wednesday moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking protection from arrest in the criminal case registered against him.
In the petition, Chaturvedi sought protection from arrest for 10 days and a direction to Punjab Police to present before the court the First Information Report (FIR) registered against him. He also accused the Punjab Police on Tuesday of trying to kidnap him.
Punjab Police has also filed a petition in the High Court seeking his custody. After the FIR was registered in Ropar, a team of Punjab Police went to Chandigarh to arrest him, but the Chandigarh Police took him into its custody.
Punjab Police on Monday reportedly lodged multiple FIRs after several Aam Aadmi Party MLAs alleged that their signatures were forged on the nomination papers submitted by Chaturvedi, who claims to be the national president of the Janata Party, for the Rajya Sabha by-election.
Advocate General Maninderjit Singh Bedi and Additional Advocate General Chanchal Singla sought transfer of the custody of the accused to Punjab Police and initiation of contempt and departmental action against the officers responsible for disobeying court orders.
The Punjab Police has initiated legal action after receiving complaints from sitting members (MLAs) of the Punjab Assembly regarding alleged forgery of signatures on the nomination papers submitted by Chaturvedi.
A Punjab Police spokesperson said on Monday that the complaining MLAs have said that they have received messages and social media posts which suggest that their names were mentioned as proposers in the nomination papers filed by Chaturvedi before the Legislative Assembly Secretary. Chaturvedi has filed two nominations, one on October 6 and the other on October 13.
The MLAs said in their complaint that it was found that a handwritten list of proposers, purportedly bearing the signatures of these MLAs, was attached with the nomination papers and was being circulated on digital platforms.
The MLAs have categorically denied signing or supporting the said nomination, and have alleged that their names and signatures were forged and used fraudulently without consent.
Fake documents presented before a constitutional authority constitute a serious offense involving forgery, cheating and criminal conspiracy. On the basis of these complaints, FIRs have been registered against the said Chaturvedi in various police stations of the constituencies of the complainant MLAs.
–IANS
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