The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notice to Congress generalsecretary Rahul Gandhi, the U.P. government and four others on a petition filed by a former MLA challenging Rs. 50 lakh fine slapped on him by the Allahabad High Court in an alleged case of illegal detention.
A bench of justices V.S. Sirpurkar and T.S. Thakur while staying the High Court order, which had also directed a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation against the former legislator, asked the respondents to file their replies within four weeks.
Former Samajwadi Party MLA from Madhya Pradesh Kishore Samrite had challenged the High Court order, saying it was illegal and arbitrary and issued without application of mind.
The Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court had last month slapped a penalty of Rs. 50 lakh on Mr. Samrite who had moved a habeas corpus petition against Mr. Rahul Gandhi alleging he had kept in captivity a girl and her parents, which later turned out to be false
