In a blow to BJP Lok Sabha candidate Varun Gandhi, the Allahabad High Court today rejected his plea for quashing of an FIR filed against him for his anti-Muslim speeches in Pilibhit. In its order, a division bench comprising justices Imtiyaz Murtuza and S C Nigam said,”the petition stands dismissed”.

In his petition, Varun Gandhi challenged the FIR filed on March 17 at Barkheda Police Station under sections 153 A and 188 of the IPC and Section 125 of the Representation of the People Act.

The charges entail a maximum punishment of three years jail term or fine or both.

Asked if Gandhi could be taken into custody, his counsel Gopal Chaturvedi said outside the court that “arrest is matter of satisfaction of  investigating officer”.

Noting that the Delhi High Court has granted him anticipatory bail, he said, the investigating officer “has to be satisfied that the arrest is necessary. He doesn’t have to arrest merely because he has the power to arrest or it is  a cognisable offense. He need not arrest at all”.