Jarnail Singh was elected to the state legislature from Tilak Nagar in West Delhi.
Aam Aadmi Party legislator Jarnail Singh -- who is wanted in case of manhandling of a government servant -- has been granted protection from arrest till May 18 by the Delhi High Court. The court, however, ruled that he has to appear before the police tomorrow and assist them with the investigation.
Mr Singh, whom police chief BS Bassi declared as "absconding", allegedly led a mob on April 28 that beat up an engineer to prevent him from demolishing illegal construction in Krishna Nagar. Azhar Mustafa, an employee of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, contends Mr Singh also tore up the demolition order.
Mr Singh moved high court after his anticipatory bail plea was turned down by a lower court on May 2.
Today, his counsel, senior advocate and party colleague HS Phoolka, contended that the police were trying to shield Mr Mustafa, a corrupt official. The case, he argued, was meant to "persecute" Mr Singh and the Delhi Police "wanted to teach a lesson" to the legislator.
Mr Singh, 42, the legislator from West Delhi's Tilak Nagar, is one of the several AAP legislators named in police cases since Arvind Kejriwal led the party to a record victory in the assembly elections three months ago.
Mr Singh contends that the allegations made by the engineer are false. No notice had been served to the owner of the property concerned, he said.
Later, Mr Phoolka told the media that the footage from a nearby CCTV camera that recorded the incident has been sent for forensic test. The court, he said, has asked the police to file a status report after receiving all the documents.