Kanhaiya Lal murder accused gets bail, Gehlot slams BJP

Mohammad Javed, one of the accused in the tailor Kanhaiya Lal murder case in Rajasthan's Udaipur in 2022, was on Thursday granted bail by the Rajasthan high court.

Javed had pleaded for bail in the Jaipur bench of the high court after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) court denied him relief in the case.

Reacting to the development, former chief minister Ashok Gehlot alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party used the case to gain electoral advantage, whereas BJP leader Rajendra Rathore said his party's government was committed to punishing the culprits behind the murder.

Through his counsel Syed Saadat Ali, Javed argued that he was arrested in the case based on phone call details whereas his location was not traced with the other accused involved in hatching the conspiracy.

Ali said the main accused are said to have gathered at a tea stall before the incident but the petitioner's location was not there.

No recovery has been made from him and that his guilt is yet to be established in a trial, and charges have already been framed, he said.

Considering the arguments of the defence counsel, the bench headed by Justice Pankaj Bhandari granted bail to Javed as his arrest was based upon his disclosure statement and other main accused in the matter.

Kanhaiya Lal was hacked to death at his shop in the busy Hathipole area of Udaipur in June 2022 by two cleaver-wielding men -- Mohammad Riyaz and Mohammad Gause -- for allegedly supporting a social media post against Islam, an incident that sent shockwaves across the country.

The case is being investigated by the NIA.

The charges were framed in the NIA court in Jaipur against 11 accused under various IPC sections including 302 (murder), 452 (trespassing) 153-a (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion etc), 295-a (deliberate and malicious acts, that are intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 120-b (criminal conspiracy) and unlawful activities (prevention) Act.

After the court's decision, Gehlot said in a post in Hindi on X, 'Today, an accused involved in the Kanhaiya Lal murder case was granted bail by the high court. The BJP used this murder case of Udaipur to gain electoral advantage, but the BJP-led central government's NIA did not show any special interest in ensuring punishment for the culprits.'

The Congress leader said the NIA took over the case in June 2022, but even after two-and-a-half years, the culprits could not be punished. The BJP government of the state also did not put any pressure for their early punishment, he alleged.

Gehlot said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah used the incident in the election campaign.

He said that his government gave Rs 50 lakh as compensation to the victim's family.

'But the BJP spread lies and took political advantage by claiming that the compensation amount given to the victim's family was Rs 5 lakh,' the former chief minister said.

He said the people of Rajasthan and the victim's family are asking whether the BJP will take only political advantage of this incident or will also try to provide justice.

Gehlot also claimed that the people have not forgotten that the two main accused in this murder case were BJP workers.

Hitting back at the former chief minister, BJP leader Rajendra Rathore said, 'Ashok Gehlot sahab, the BJP government is committed to punishing the culprits of the Kanhaiya Lal murder case. But how are you forgetting that 71 innocent people died in the Jaipur serial bomb blast but the terrorists were acquitted due to poor prosecution in the high court during the previous Congress government? Who was guilty of this then?'