Haryana Govt Drops BJP MP Subhash Barala's Son Vikas From Law Officers List After Public Outrage

Chandigarh: Haryana government has dropped the name of Vikas Barala, who is son of BJP MP Subhash Barala and an accused in a stalking and attempted abduction case, from the list of state law officers’ list after outrage.

Vikas was recently named as Assistant Advocate General (AAG) in the list of 97 law officers, approved by the then Governor Bandaru Dattatreya, on July 18 after their selection by a five-member committee headed by the Advocate General (AG).

While Vikas' name was said to have been dropped as he did not report for duty, there were media reports that the decision to cancel his appointment followed after his father and Rajya Sabha MP Subhas Barala, indicated to the government to drop his son’s name after the outrage.

It may be recalled that the said appointment had whipped up a major controversy with the news drawing national media attention amidst outrage and the complainant in the 2017 stalking case, Varnika Kundu, the daughter of retired IAS officer, reacting sharply against it terming it in her Instagram post, a reflection of the ``values and standards’’ of the authorities.

Vikas and his friend Ashish Kumar were booked on August 5, in 2017 for allegedly stalking and attempting to kidnap DJ Varnika Kundu, daughter of a senior IAS officer V S Kundu (now retired).

The case was registered on the complaint on Varnika and trial in the case is pending before a Chandigarh court with the next hearing in the case being August 2, 2025.

According to the complainant, she was heading to her home in Chandigarh on August 4 night when she noticed a car following her and its occupants, Vikas and Anish allegedly attempted to block her path and tried to enter her vehicle.

Initially the Chandigarh police booked them under Section 354D (stalking) of the IPC and relevant sections of the Motor Vehicles Act, though subsequently, charges of attempting to abduct her were added after widespread criticism of police functioning.

The Chandigarh court framed charges against the duo on October 13, 2017 and Vikas remained in jail for about five months and appeared in his law exams during the period.