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Punjab minister Aman Arora gets interim stay from Sangrur court
Court stays AAP minister’s conviction in a 2008 assault case until January 31, clears way for him to unfurl Tricolour in Amritsar tomorrow
In a relief to Punjab cabinet minister Aman Arora, a Sangrur court on Thursday stayed his conviction in a 2008 assault case until January 31.
According to his counsel, this is an interim stay as the final decision on staying the conviction would be delivered on January 31.
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The district court had — after a thorough hearing of the arguments for nearly 10 hours on Wednesday — reserved its order and listed the matter for pronouncement of order on Thursday.
Arora, who is an Aam Aadmi Party MLA from Sunam constituency of Patiala district, had to file an appeal in the district court on January 10 after he was sentenced in December last year to two years’ rigorous imprisonment in a 2008 assault case against his brother-in-law, Rajinder Deepa.
On December 21 last year, a Sunam court sentenced Arora, his 85-year-old mother and eight others to two-year jail in the assault and trespass case.
Soon after the hearing, Arora said, “Truth has prevailed. Now, I will unfurl the flag in Amritsar on Republic Day.”
On the sidelines of the case, Anil Kumar Tayal, a Mansa resident, had sought directions in a public interest litigation (PIL) for excluding the name of Arora from the list of dignitaries unfurling the national flag on Republic Day.
Arora said that he had given an affidavit in the high court that he wouldn’t unfurl the flag on Republic Day until his conviction was stayed. “The only thing that was stopping me from unfurling the flag was the conviction, which has been now been stayed by the district court,” the AAP leader said.
