Delhi Assembly speaker Ram Niwas Goel sentenced to 6 months in prison for trespassing

Delhi Assembly speaker Ram Niwas Goel was on Friday sentenced to 6 months in prison for trespassing onto the home of a realtor in an East Delhi colony in 2015.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal held Ram Niwas Goel and four others-Sumit Goel, Hitesh Khanna, Atul Gupta and Balbir Singh guilty, stating that the case against them have been proven beyond reasonable doubt.

“I am of the view that the punishment needs to be deterrent in this case,” the court said, while laying a Rs 1,000 penalty on each of them.

AlsoRead: Nirmala Sitharaman delivers swift response to Manmohan Singh in economy blame game

However, the court gave them bail on a personal bond of Rs one lakh to enable them to file appeals in a higher court.

The court had sentenced the accused persons under section 488 (house trespass) of the IPC.

Ram Niwas Goel has rebuffed the charges. As per the prosecution, Mr Goel entered the home of Manish Ghai, a builder, on 6th February, 2015, accusing him of stashing alcohol, blankets and other items for distribution before the elections. Furthermore, the accused asserted that they went to the builders apartment along with a police team, which included local station house officer and assistant comissioner of police.

"As per the complainant, some labourers were staying at a house that was owned by him. He received a call from one of them at about 9.30 pm on February 6, 2015 about Goel and his associates forcibly entering the building and damaging the property," the police had said in the charge sheet.

AlsoRead: Over 300 Indian nationals repatriated from Mexico in unprecedented move

Ghai also claimed that the group broke a cupboard, kitchen items and mirrors in the house. When they tried to object, they were allegedly assaulted.