The Supreme Court on Thursday granted five weeks protection against Non-Bailable Warrant (NBW) to national spokesperson of Congress Randeep Surjewala in a 23-year-old case of violent protest in the divisional commissioners court and office compound in Varanasi. A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra ordered that a non-bailable warrant (NBW) issued against Mr Surjewala shall not be executed for five weeks.The bench also granted four weeks to Mr Surjewala to move the application before the Varanasi court and seek cancellation of the NBW.We permit the petitioner to move the trial court for cancellation of NBW within four weeks and the warrant shall not be executed for the period ending after five weeks, the bench said. Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewalas old case A Special Judge (MP-MLA) in Varanasi issued NBW on November 7, 2023, ordering him to be produced before the court on November 21 in connection with the case.The court also wrote a letter to the Delhi Police Commissioner, directing him to ensure his appearance in the court on the prescribed date.During the hearing, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Mr Surjewala, told the bench that the case dates back to the year 2000 when an FIR was registered against him because of alleged political agitation he did as a youth Congress leader.Mr Singhvi told the Supreme Court that the incident occurred in 2000, and the summons against Mr Surjewala was issued 22 years later in August 2022. (With ANI inputs)
