SC rejects BJP leader\'s plea for transferring Mamata bounty cases to single court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has dismissed a plea seeking transfer of all cases related to FIRs filed against Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha leader Yogesh Varshney, to one court.

Varshney has been accused of declaring a bounty of Rs 11 lakh for beheading West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and also comprising Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna refused to entertain the transfer petition moved by Varshney.

“We heard the contentions of the learned counsel for the petitioner and perused the relevant material. We are not inclined to entertain the transfer petition. The same is, accordingly, dismissed,” the Bench has said in its order.

Apart from seeking direction to transfer all FIRs against him to one court, Varshney had also sought to stay his prosecution in connection with the case.

Varshney had in April 2017 announced the bounty on camera, following which politicians cutting across the party lines demanded stringent action against him.

In his defence, Varshney had said that he announced the bounty because he was deeply hurt after the police lathi-charged people who were chanting slogans in praise of Lord Rama on Hanuman Jayanti in West Bengal’s Birbhum district.

He had later apologised for his statement and withdrew the bounty announced.