
The district court here today granted bail to
Congress leader and Ludhiana MP Ravneet Singh Bittu in a six-year-old
case pertaining to unlawful assembly and disobedience.
However, he has been served a notice under Section 446 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to which he will file a reply on the next
hearing, which is scheduled for October 21.
Defence counsel Terminder Singh argued that Bittu’s offence was not
intentional.
He argued that it was not publicised that Section 144 was imposed in the area; neither was it published in newspapers nor any documentary evidence depicted the same. Thus, there was no way the MP could have known about Section 144 being in effect in the area at that time.
The bail was given on the condition that he would cooperate with the police in the investigation and his counsel had given an undertaking that he would be present at all hearings. However, he failed to appear in court despite repeated notices.