The Jharkhand High Court gave the last opportunity to the state police and the complainant to file their reply in connection with the fake degree case against BJP MP Nishikant Dubey.
A bench of Justice SK Dwivedi, while hearing the matter on Thursday, directed the police not to harass the MP unnecessarily.
Giving last chance to the police and the complainant, Justice Dwivedi asked them to file their reply within two weeks.
In July last year, the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Chief Minister Hemant Soren had accused the Godda MP of obtaining a fake management degree from Delhi University.
One Vishnukant Jha had also lodged a police complaint in Deoghar against the MP over the matter. Based on the complaint, police had registered an FIR and started an investigation against him.
Following this, Mr Dubey filed a petition in the high court on December 7, seeking quashing of the FIR. However, the complainant and the state government are yet to file their replies in the high court.
Hearing the matter, the court extended the interim relief given to the MP, preventing any coercive action against him.
AdvertisementThe bench said that the police should not unnecessarily harass Mr Dubey.
Appearing for Mr Dubey, advocate Prashant Pallav told the bench that the matter started with a "fake RTI" and a complaint was filed against him in Deoghar, saying that his MBA degree was fake.
AdvertisementThe JMM also tweeted that the MP's MBA degree given by the Delhi University was fake and it was allegedly confirmed by the varsity, he said.
Mr Dubey, however, handed over documents to the police, including a certificate of his MBA from Pratap University, Jaipur, Mr Pallav told the court.
AdvertisementBesides, a case was registered in Gorakhpur over the "fake RTI".
The court said that it will hear the matter again after three weeks.
Hearing another petition filed by Mr Dubey's wife Anamika Gautam on June 28, the bench of Justice SK Dwivedi stayed investigation into a land purchase by her. The probe was initiated on the basis of an FIR lodged at the instance of Deoghar Deputy Commissioner.
The bench issued a notice and sought a response from the state government over the matter. It will be heard on September 8.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
