The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its judgement on a petition challenging the Uttar Pradesh government's decision to withdraw charges under POTA against controversial independent legislator Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya, his father and a relative.
A bench comprising Justice B N Agarwal and Justice A K Mathur, during the course of arguments, examined in detail various documents relating to the invocation of POTA and its subsequent withdrawal by the Mulayam Singh government.
The petitions, filed by S K Shukla and two others, all residents of Pratapgarh, had challenged the state government's decision to withdraw POTA against Raja Bahiya, his father Uday Pratap Singh and a relative, Akshay Pratap Singh alias Gopalji, also a member of legislative Assembly.
The petitioners alleged that the trio's release from jail posed a threat to their lives as they were witness to the case registered against them.
The Mayawati government had slapped POTA against them after they were arrested along with arms and ammunition, including AK-47 and AK-56 rifles.
During the arguments, the court was informed that the State POTA Review Committee had passed an order that no case was made out against him for invoking POTA against him.