Charges against cabinet minister cum local MLA Balbir Singh Sidhu Mohali of obstructing trains were dropped by chief judicial magistrate Deepika Singh on Thursday on the grounds of railways failing to file a complaint on time.

On May 2, 2015, Sidhu with 200 supporters was accused of stopping trains at Lalru during a state wide agitation in May for over two hours causing losses to railways. However, the railways filed a complaint on May 24, 2019, four years later.

Balbir Singh Sidhu ()

Sidhu had sought dismissal of the complaint filed by the railways under section 174 in The Railways Act, 1989,which calls for prosecution and three-year jail term if guilty for anyone obstructing trains.

The court said in view of the bar under Section 468 CrPC it was not competent to take cognizance of the offence for which a complaint was filed four years later, after the lapse of the three-year period of limitation.

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