Uttar Pradesh: NBW issued against ex-Union minister Ram Shankar Katheria in 2009 rail blockade case

AGRA: A special court for MPs and MLAs issued a non-bailable warrant against former Union minister of state for HRD and Etawah MP Ram Shankar Katheria on Thursday for failing to appear before the court in connection with an 11-year-old case registered against him and his party colleagues by Agra Cantonment GRP in 2009.
Special judge Neeraj Gautam fixed the next date for final arguments on September 27, said additional district government counsel Shashi Sharma.
Giving details of the case, Sharma said that the BJP MP was booked on September 26, 2009 by Agra Cantt GRP for staging a protest in support of lawyers demanding a bench of Allahabad high court in Agra. He along with other party workers, including former MP Babulal Chaudhary, had allegedly halted the train operations while staging the protest on a railway track.
The GRP had registered a case under various sections of the Indian Railway Act on a complaint filed by the then station manager of Raja Mandi station, Indraveer Singh.
Sharma said that Katheria’s statement was recorded in the court on September 16. On Thursday, he had to be present in the court, but neither he nor his lawyer appeared.