Delhi Assembly gate crasher Sarabjeet Singh remanded to judicial custody

A Tis Hazari court remanded Sarabjeet Singh, accused of crashing his car into the Delhi Assembly gate, to five days of judicial custody. The order followed the expiry of his eight-day police custody. The investigation is ongoing.

Accused Remanded to Judicial Custody

The Tis Hazari court on Wednesday remanded the accused Sarabjeet Singh for five days of judicial custody. He was produced before the court after the expiry of his eight-day police custody.

Singh crashed the gate of the Delhi Assembly with his car and injured a guard on duty on April 6. Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Harshita remanded Sarabjeet Singh in judicial custody for five days.

Delhi Police moved an application seeking judicial custody of the accused. Police said that the investigation of the case is ongoing. The accused is required to send in judicial custody. Police informed the court that he had been provided the medicine as per the doctor's prescription.

During the hearing, the Investigating Officer also told the court that Sarabjeet was referred to the Institute of Human Behaviour & Allied Sciences (IHBAS) Hospital for medical assessment. He was admitted to the hospital for a short time and prescribed medication for his condition.

Arguments Over Accused's Mental State

Advocate Anshu Shukla appeared for Sarabjeet Singh. Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) Atul Shrivastav appeared for the Delhi police. On April 7, Counsel for the accused advanced a defence that he is not mentally stable and he entered the Delhi assembly premises thinking it was a gurudwara. He was living in a Gurudwara in Chandigarh before coming to Delhi. He also submitted that accsued is on medication. However, the counsel could not produce proper and entire medical records of accsued.

While seeking the police custody, APP Atul Shrivastav had submitted that the accused Sarabjeet Singh entered the high-security zone of the Delhi legislative Assembly after crashing the gate with his car. It was also submitted that the Accused Sarabjeet tried to hit the guard who was posted at the gate, who escaped by jumping aside. He twice tried to run over the guard.

While opposing the custody remand request, counsel for the accused had submitted that his mental condition is not stable. He went to Chandigarh 15 days ago without informing his wife. He stayed at a Gurudwara, though his sister also lives in Chandigarh. Thereafter, he moved to Delhi when he came to know that his nephew, who studied in Delhi, had gone missing. Then reached the Delhi assembly and entered, thinking it was a Gurudwara, the counsel argued.

APP had opposed the submissions and contended Accused is not a person of an unstable mind. After reaching Delhi, he engaged two taxi drivers to accompany him. He also bought the car, and he has a valid driving licence.

Court's Previous Custody Order

The court had asked the counsel how the Accused reached Chandigarh from Pilibhit and how far it is. And thereafter from Chandigarh to Delhi, and what is the distance? Counsel for accsued had said that he drove around 700 kilometres.

The court asked how a person not mentally stable can drive 700 kilometres on highways where high speed vehicle plying? The court had also interacted with the accused, who answered the queries. After considering all the facts, the court granted eight days of police custody. (ANI)

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