Kolkata, Nov 18 A court at Tufanganj in West Bengal's Cooch Behar district on Friday issued an arrest warrant against BJP MP and Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs, John Barla, in connection with a case of violation of model code of conduct during the Lok Sabha elections in 2019.
According to public prosecutor Sanjay Burman, on April 4, 2019, a motorcycle rally was taken out at the premises of the block development office (BDO) in Tufanganj violating the model code of conduct.
Barla, who was the BJP candidate from Alipurduar, was present at the rally.
"Accordingly, a complaint of model code of conduct violation was filed against four persons attending the rally, including John Barla, filed at the local Boxirhat police station. The Tufanganj sub-division court had issued summons to Barla on the matter and asked him to be present at the court on November 15.
But neither did he turn up at the court, nor any counsel appeared on his behalf. So, the court has now issued an arrest warrant against Barla on charges of contempt of court, Burman informed mediapersons.
Reacting to the court order, Barla claimed that he is a victim of vendetta politics
"I have great regards towards the legal system of the country. Previously too, I spent 45 days behind the bars. This arrest warrant has been issued against me out of political vendetta," he said.
Trinamool Congress spokesman Kunal Ghosh said that since the arrest warrant has been issued by the court, there is no question of political vendetta in the matter.
"The law will take its own course," he said.
Incidentally, Barla is the second BJP Lok Sabha member from West Bengal against whom an arrest warrant has been issued by a lower court within an interval of just 72 hours.
On November 14, the Alipurduar Judicial Third Court issued an arrest warrant against Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Nisith Pramanik, in connection with his alleged involvement in a burglary case in two jewellery shops in Alipurduar in 2009.
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