ALLAHABAD: The Uttar Pradesh government told the Allahabad high court on Thursday that it would not grant sanction to prosecute any of the accused in the 2007 Gorakhpur communal riot case , including then Gorakhpur MP Yogi Aditya Nath.Apppearing before the court, UP chief secretary Rahul Bhatnagar filed an affidavit stating that the principal secretary (home) had refused on May 3 to grant sanction to prosecute the accused.The affidavit stated the decision of the principal secretary was based on the opinion of law department, forensic report and other evidence while the CB-CID had filed the final report before the trial court. UP advocate general Raghvendra Singh, who appeared before the court on behalf of the state, said that the case was politically motivated and was registered by the petitioners after a delay of almost 10 months.Responding to the submission of the advocate general, petitioners' counsel SFA Naqvi requested the HC to grant time for filing an amendment application in order to challenge the government's decision. Naqvi based his argument on the premise that an accused cannot be a judge for his own cause. He contended that the order was passed by the principal secretary (home) who was working under the chief minister, an accused in the case.

Source: Times of India May 11, 2017 21:00 UTC