Phoolan spurns warrant, does not turn up in court

Sharat Pradhan in Kanpur

Pholan Devi did not surrender to a Kanpur court on Tuesday.

When the bandit-turned-member of-Parliament did not appear in court despite a non-bailable warrant being issued against her in the Behmai massacre case, Special Judge (anti-dacoity) S K Srivastava directed the Uttar Pradesh police to execute the warrant. The judge fixed February 17 as the next date for the hearing.

UP police chief H D Rao told Rediff On The NeT that his force has not been able to arrest Phoolan Devi, despite its best efforts. "Police parties went to track her down, but she is not to be found," he said.

Phoolan Devi's counsel Nand Lal Jaiswal maintains that his client is under no commitment to surrender before the Kanpur court. "Phoolan Devi neither made any such assurance nor is she obliged to do so when I moved a petition before the Allahabad high court on Monday challenging the very jurisdiction of the UP Dacoity Affected Areas Act 1983 in this case."

Jaiswal claimed the Kanpur court could not do anything until his petition was heard and disposed off.

His contention was simple -- the anti-dacoity act came into force on October 27, 1981, while the Behmai massacre, for which Phoolan Devi is to be tried, occurred on February 14, 1981.

Meanwhile, Vijay Narain Singh Sengar, the counsel for the widows of Behmai, says he will move an application to declare Phoolan Devi an absconder and a fugitive from the law, so that all her property can be attached.

He described Jaiswal's application before the high court as "just another tactic to delay justice."

Even as the UP police failed to track down Phoolan Devi, she granted a television interview, to which her counsel quips, "maybe, the police do not want to execute the warrant so why blame her?"

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