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Domestic violence allegations: Udaipur court summons Vikramaditya, Pratibha
The complainant, Sudarshana Singh Chundawat, has accused Vikramaditya Singh, her mother-in-law Himachal Pradesh state Congress chief Pratibha Singh, sister-in-law Aprajita Singh and brother-in-law Agand Singh of domestic violence.
An Udaipur court has summoned Himachal Pradesh MLA Vikramaditya Singh and his family in connection to a domestic violence case filed by his estranged wife on October 17.
The complainant, Sudarshana Singh Chundawat, has accused Vikramaditya Singh, her mother-in-law Himachal Pradesh state Congress chief Pratibha Singh, sister-in-law Aprajita Singh and brother-in-law Agand Singh of domestic violence.
Chundawat’s counsel Bhanwar Singh Devra said the couple got married on March 8, 2019. However, after the death of his father, six-time Himachal chief minister Virbhadra Singh, Vikramaditya asked the complainant to return to her maternal home in Amet.
Devra said his client has claimed that Vikramaditya was having an affair and that he would harass her. She has alleged that Vikramaditya had installed CCTV cameras in her room to keep a watch on her and would complain that she had not brought enough gifts with her at the time of their wedding.
“The court had summoned Vikramaditya and his family members in the domestic violence and maintenance case on December 14,” Devra said. However, no one appeared in court on Wednesday. The next dates of hearing are January 13 and January 20.
Vikramaditya denies issuance of non-bailable warrant against him
After some media portals reported that an Udaipur court had issued a non-bailable warrants against him and his family in the domestic violence case, Vikramaditya Singh issued a statement on Wednesday clarifying that no such warrants had been issued.
In the statement, Singh said Chundawat had filed a petition under provisions of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act in the court of additional chief judicial magistrate in Udaipur on October 17. The case had come up for hearing on November 17 and notices to appear in court were issued to the respondents for December 14.
“The news was disseminated through social media on December 12 on various social media platforms, including print media, stating that non-bailable warrants were already issued in this case and the case was pending service of NBWs. It is pointed out that the said news, as has been circulated and published, is contrary to the record of the case,” said Vikramaditya Singh.
“Rather, we have accepted the notices and have not evaded the process of law. There has been no default on our part so there is no question of issuing NBWs against us,” he said.
“The news as has been circulated is apparently against the judicial record and has been generated due to an oversight/ error committed by the staff in uploading the information on the court website,” he said, “On coming to know of the same, appropriate remedial measures were taken by us, to rectify the error. The application has been allowed and the correct information has now been uploaded on the court website and is available for verification by one and all.”
On the allegations levelled, he said, “It is a very personal matter. I do not want to comment on it as the matter is pending in court. Disputes can take place in any family, and we tend to resolve it amicably through mediation,” he said.
Vikramaditya, a scion of the erstwhile Rampur Bushahr royal family, had got engaged to Chundawat, a direct descendent of the Amet royal family of Mewar in Rajasthan on October 26, 2018. While Vikramaditya is a second-time legislator from Shimla rural, Chundawat is an art connoisseur, digital illustrator and photographer. At present, she is working on preserving the craft and textile heritage of women in the Himachal Pradesh hills.
