Press Trust of India
New Delhi, May 9: Varun Gandhi on Friday said the Uttar Pradesh Advisory Board's revoking of NSA against him has exposed the "conspiracy" by the Centre and the UP government for "petty political gain".
"I have all along expressed full faith in the judiciary and that has been completely vindicated today. I am grateful that this conspiracy by the state and the Centre for petty political gain has been exposed and deleted," Varun said.
He also said the authorities have to answer for his "illegal detention" for 20 days.
"For the 20 days that I have spent in illegal detention will have to be answered 20 times over by the authorities to the people of India. It is a historic moment, not just for me but also for Indian Democracy," Varun said in a statement.
Earlier, UP Home Secretary Javed Ahmad said, "NSA invoked against Varun Gandhi has been held invalid by the Board."
The UP government had invoked the stringent NSA against Varun for his alleged hate speeches during a political campaign in Pilibhit.
Varun was let off by the three-member Advisory board headed by senior judge of the Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court Justice Pradeep Kant which went into the maintainability of the BJP leader's detention by the UP government under the NSA imposed on March 29.
Varun had also personally appeared before the Board.
29-year-old Varun, who is BJP's Lok Sabha candidate from Pilibhit in UP, is currently on parole following a Supreme Court order after remaining in jail for nearly three weeks. He was released from Etah jail on April 16. His parole expires on May 14.