2009 Post-Vienna rioting case: Court awards 5-yr jail to Cong councillor, 4 others; asks them to pay `10,000 each to 11 cops who were hurt

The accused have been identified as Mandeep Kumar Jassal, Rajeshwar, who is the Proclaimed Offender, Gulzar Chand, Bal Mukand, Shingara Ram, and Kishan Lal.

A mob led by Jassal and other convicts had damaged Johal Hospital in Rama Mandi area despite enforcement of curfew in Jalandhar city following riots in May 2009. Hospital owner Dr Baljit Singh Johal had filed the case.

Advocate Darshan Singh Dyal, the counsel for the petitioner, said that finally his client has got justice.

Dr Johal said he had full faith in the judiciary and it was proven on Thursday.
The accused were facing trial for rioting, loot, arson cases registered under Sections 435 (whoever commits mischief by fire or any explosive substance intending to cause damage), 353, 323, 324 of IPC in May 2009 in Jalandhar after the assassination of Ravidassia sect preacher Sant Rama Nand in Austrian city of Vienna.

“The court ordered to pay a compensation of Rs 10,000 each to 11 policemen injured while trying to control the mob and to pay a compensation of Rs 35,000 each for burning the motorbikes of two cops,” advocate Dyal said, adding that this is the first case post-Vienna rioting in which conviction took place despite efforts by police to dilute the case to the maximum possible extent.

After the killing of Sant Rama Nand in May 2009 in Vienna, incidents of rioting, loot, and arson took place here despite curfew and even a passenger train was set on fire. And 75 criminal cases were registered on charges of murder, looting, arson and destroying private and public property at various police stations, out of which 30 FIRs were sent to the court as untraced and trial in them never began, while 45 cases were sent for trial.

Court acquitted the accused in 19 cases due to lack of evidence on the part of police. Most of these cases were registered on the complaints of police officials who were also injured and their vehicles were also damaged by the protesters.
Sant Rama Nand was second in command in Dera Sach Khand Ballan, Jalandhar, the largest dera of the Ravidassia community. Most of the Ravidassia community people had protested his killing and some of them had indulged in rioting and arson.

Earlier the court of additional and sessions judge had turned down a plea filed by the state government to withdraw cases from prosecution against all accused who were facing trial on attempt to murder, rioting and arson charges.

“This application was filed following a notification of the then Congress government in this regard as all the accused belonged to a particular community and the state government wanted to please them ahead of the 2022 Vidhan Sabha elections,” it was argued then in the court.

Dyal had pleaded before the court that there are anti-social elements in every community and such cases cannot be withdrawn as they were against public interest.

The public prosecutor in his plea had contended that if these cases end up in conviction of the accused, then it might disturb public tranquillity.
Dyal then argued how can the government issue such a notification to please some people in a community because of political reasons. How can the government justify its move to withdraw such cases in the interest of the public when in one such incident at Phillaur (in Jalandhar district) a security man was killed by the mob, Dyal argued.

“Public interest does not mean to vandalise private showrooms, to torch private vehicles, to burn trains, to damage private hospitals, etc.,” Dyal had argued during the long trial.

He had contended that it was not public interest but political interest only, and withdrawal of such cases would shake the faith in the judicial system. Even police never arrested several accused in the case all these years.