Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Akash Vijayvargiya, who was arrested four days ago for allegedly assaulting a civic official with a cricket bat, was released on bail from a local jail on Sunday morning.
He was released after the order granting him bail reached the jail authorities here from a court in Bhopal.
Vijayvargiya was welcomed with garlands and sweets by his supporters, triggering a verbal duel between the Congress and the BJP with the former accusing the latter of "favouring hooliganism", while the saffron party said it was a natural reaction from youngsters.
After coming out of jail, Vijayvargiya dubbed his prison experience as "good" and said he was happy to be out as he would now be focussing on his pending public works.
District Jail Superintendent Aditi Chaturvedi said that they got the court order to release Vijayvargiya on bail at 11 pm on Saturday.
"After completing all the formalities, he was released on Sunday morning," she said.
The Bhopal-based court of Additional Sessions Judge Suresh Singh granted bail to the 34-year-old MLA, son of BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, on Saturday in the case of assault as well as in an earlier case in which he was accused of staging an illegal protest.
Vijayvargiya was asked to furnish a personal bail bond of Rs 50,000 in the assault case and another of Rs 20,000 in the earlier case.
"I was in jail for the first time in my life, but the experience was good. My time in prison was very good. However, I am happy that I have came out as I have to complete unfinished works of the public," the MLA said.
The first-time legislator from the Indore-3 assembly segment was arrested for allegedly assaulting municipal official Dhirendra Singh Bais with a cricket bat on Wednesday while opposing the demolition of a dilapidated building.
A civic official on Sunday said they were preparing to demolish the dilapidated house, which was declared dangerous, ahead of the rainy season.
Asked about the civic body's preparations, Vijayvargiya said, "I do not have any information at this point of time, I will get the information about it. However, my fight over public issues will continue."
Denying him bail, a magistrate's court sent him to judicial custody till July 11 on Wednesday.
On Thursday, the Indore Sessions Court refused to hear his bail plea, saying it had no jurisdiction and he should approach the special court set up in Bhopal to hear cases against public representatives.
Vijayvargiya was booked under Indian Penal Code sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty).
Besides, he was also charged under IPC sections 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation), 147 (rioting) and 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapons).
Meanwhile, the jail superintendent said, "We did not receive the court order till 7 pm on Saturday, the scheduled 'lock-up' time. So, we could not release him on Saturday night, in accordance with the jail manual."
According to the prison manual, after the regular counting of prisoners, they are sent to their respective cells from the inner premises of the jail. This process is called "lock-up".
The jail superintendent said after the MLA's arrest, he was under judicial custody since Wednesday evening on the order of a local court.
While he was in judicial custody, Vijayvargiya was arrested on Thursday in another case in which he was charged under IPC section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant).
The case was registered after the MLA led a protest here against power cuts on June 4 without taking the mandatory permission.
Meanwhile, Vijayvargiya was welcomed with garlands by his supporters when he reached the Bharatiya Janata Party city office from the District Jail. The MLA got a similar reception later from relatives and friends when he reached his Nandanagar residence here.
A video of Vijayvargiya's welcome went viral on the social media, prompting the ruling Congress in Madhya Pradesh to accuse the BJP of "favouring hooliganism".
State Congress spokesperson Neelabh Shukla said, "Vijayvargiya spent four nights in jail for thrashing a government servant. By welcoming him, the BJP is sending out a message that it is in favour of hooliganism."
In reply, state BJP spokesperson Rahul Kothari said, "After the court granted bail to Akash, this was the natural manifestation of the love and affection of the youth towards him. Akash himself has said he will follow Mahatma Gandhi's principles to get the work done. This is a clear reply to the opposition."
