A special MP-MLA court in Uttar Pradesh has approved the state government's application to withdraw a case linked to the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots involving 25 individuals, including several prominent Bharatiya Janata Party leaders and members of Hindutva organizations.
According to prosecution officer Rahul Singh, the decision follows the state government's directive to drop the charges. The accused were facing trial for allegedly violating prohibitory orders, obstructing public servants from performing their duties, and inciting communal tension through speeches at a mahapanchayat held in Nagla Mador on July 31, 2013.
Those named in the case included Uttar Pradesh Minister Kapil Dev Agarwal, former Union Minister Sanjeev Balyan, former state ministers Suresh Rana and Ashok Kataria, former BJP MPs Bhartendu Singh and Sohanvir Singh, former BJP MLAs Ashok Kansal, Umesh Malik, and Sangeet Som, alongside Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Sadhvi Prachi and Yati Narsinghanand of the Dasna Shiv Temple.
The original violence, which erupted in September 2013 across Muzaffarnagar and Shamli districts, claimed at least 60 lives, displaced thousands of Muslim families, and resulted in numerous reported incidents of sexual assault. The court's approval of the withdrawal comes months after an Uttar Pradesh court acquitted 37 individuals in February in connection with the murder of eight people during the same riots due to a lack of evidence.