E-Paper
HC reserves order on bail plea of Irfan Solanki in house arson case
Irfan Solanki had lost his membership of assembly (MLA) after the pronouncement of this judgment, as the sentence was of more than two years
The Allahabad High Court on Friday reserved its order on a bail application of ex- MLA of Samajwadi Party, Irfan Solanki in house arson case of Kanpur district.
Irfan Solanki had lost his membership of assembly (MLA) after the pronouncement of this judgment, as the sentence was of more than two years. As per a Supreme Court judgment, if punishment is of more than two years, the MP or MLA concerned will lose his membership of the House.
The above order was passed by a division bench comprising Justice Rajiv Gupta and Justice Surendra Singh after hearing counsel for the Irfan Solanki, state government’s counsel and complainant’s counsel.
It is to recall that on the charges of setting on fire the house of one Fatima, a resident of defence colony in Jajmau area, the special court of Kanpur had convicted and awarded a sentence of seven years imprisonment to Irfan Solanki, the then MLA of Kanpur cantt, along with four others in its judgment dated June 7, 2024.
Against this judgment the present criminal appeal has been filed before the high court. On the other hand, the state government has also filed an appeal for enhancement of sentence of Irfan Solanki.
Along with the appeal, Irfan Solanki has also filed an application for bail as well as for stay of sentence that is being heard by the court in the pending appeal.
Earlier, on Thursday, appearing on behalf of the appellant, senior advocate GS Chaturvedi and Imran Ullah contended that it is a case of circumstantial evidence and there is no evidence, which amongst the accused had lit the fire.
Opposing the bail applicant, additional advocate general, Manish Goyal, while appearing on behalf of the state government contended that the prosecution has proved his case beyond the reasonable doubt and the appellant has been convicted accordingly. Hence, he does not deserve to be released on bail.
