Court orders police to file FIR against SP Chief Mulayam

Lucknow: A local court on Wednesday ordered police to file an FIR against Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav for allegedly threatening an IG-rank officer Amitabh Thakur and probe the incident that triggered a massive row.

Chief Judicial Magistrate Som Prabha while accepting Thakur's application under 156(3) IPC directed SHO Hazratganj to file the FIR under relevant sections and probe the matter and also apprise the court. Section 156(3) IPC empowers a magistrate to direct police to file an FIR.

The court observed that after going through facts provided by Thakur, it appeared to be a case under 506 IPC (punishment for criminal intimidation).

"According to report of SHO, Hazratganj, the application was moved for gaining publicity. However, he did not inform whether the FIR was registered in the matter or not," it observed.

Thakur had approached the court after Uttar Pradesh police had rejected his plea for an FIR against Mulayam for allegedly threatening him on phone with dire consequences, saying the allegations have not been substantiated.

Inspector of Hazratganj police station Vijay Mal Singh Yadav in his letter of July 17 stated that the complaint presented by Thakur against Mulayam was inquired into and it was found that the allegations have not been substantiated and hence it was being rejected.

The letter was handed over to Thakur's wife Nutan at their residence on July 23. The IG-rank officer had completely disagreed with the enquiry conducted by police into the purported phone call by Mulayam and said the letter did not mention any reason for the conclusion it had reached.

The letter "seems to have been drawn superficially, quite visibly under pressure," he had said. After Hazratganj police registered no FIR, Thakur had sent an application to SSP Lucknow on July 22.

In his application to the SSP, Thakur had said that Mulayam's statements were "definitely criminal intimidation", which is a cognizable offence and hence he had sought registering of FIR. The UP government had suspended Thakur on July 13, hours after he approached the Union Home Ministry seeking a CBI probe into the rape case slapped against him.

Thakur, who has ever since been locked in a tussle with the state government, was served a 200-page charge sheet and a vigilance inquiry was initiated against him. He had stirred a political storm by releasing the text and audio of the purported phone conversation with Mulayam on the night of July 10.