HC refuses to put on hold Daya Shankar’s arrest

Lucknow, July 28 (IANS) The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Thursday refused to quash the FIR lodged against former BJP state Vice-President Daya Shankar Singh and asked the state government to respond to a petition moved by the leader now in the eye of a controversy.

A bench of Justice Ajay Lamba and Justice Ravindra Nath Mishra (IInd) fixed August 8 as the next date of hearing of the case.

The expelled BJP leader was booked for making objectionable remarks against Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati.

Daya Shankar Singh had approached the high court seeking to quash the FIR against him and also to put on hold his impending arrest, which seems imminent as a lower court has issued a non-bailable warrant against him.

In a related development, women leaders and workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party held a massive demonstration in the state capital seeking arrest of BSP leader Naseemuddin Siddiqui for making obscene remarks against Daya Shankar Singh's wife and daughter.

Meanwhile, state BJP President Keshav Maurya visited Daya Shankar Singh's wife Swati Singh, who is admitted to a city hospital with low blood pressure and other ailments.