Withdrawal of 'politically motivated' cases, Yogi among the 'beneficiaries'

One of the beneficiaries of Uttar Pradesh government's decision to withdraw around 20,000 ''politically motivated'' cases is Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath himself.

Besides Adityanath, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya and Union Minister Shiv Pratap Shukla were the other beneficiaries of the decision.

According to sources here on Wednesday, the state government has decided to withdraw a case, which had been lodged against Adityanath, Shukla and some others at Pipiganj police station in Gorakhpur district in 1995 for violation of prohibitory orders.

Sources said that the district administration would soon approach the court seeking withdrawal of the cases lodged in this connection. Some other cases lodged against Adityanath would also be withdrawn soon, they added.

The decision to withdraw the cases comes at a time when the Allahabad high court was hearing a petition challenging the refusal of the state government to permit prosecution of Adityanath in a case of hate speech in Gorakhpur in 2007.

The chief minister had said that the withdrawal of ''politically motivated'' cases would benefit all political figures irrespective of their political affiliations.

While the Samajwadi Party (SP) has welcomed the decision to withdraw ''politically motivated'' cases, the Congress decried the decision and said that the BJP was trying to shield criminal elements within its fold.

''It is good as long all such cases are withdrawn irrespective of political affiliations,'' said a senior SP leader here.

The SP government had also during its tenure withdrawn around 2,000 cases against politicians.