The Crossbill News Desk
A sessions court in Ahmedabad has granted the Gujarat government’s plea to withdraw sedition cases against Bharatiya Janta Partya (BJP) MLA Hardik Patel and four others in connection with the 2015 Patidar quota agitation.
In an order issued on Saturday (March 1), Additional Sessions Judge M.P. Purohit permitted the withdrawal of prosecution against Hardik Patel, Dinesh Bambhaniya, Chirag Patel, Ketan Patel, and Alpesh Kathiriya under Section 321(a) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), news agency PTI reported.
The court formally discharged all five accused from the charges.
While sedition charges had been framed against three of them, Ketan Patel was yet to be formally charged, as he had been granted a pardon on the condition that he testify as a witness.
Meanwhile, charges against Kathiriya were pending at the stage of framing after a supplementary chargesheet was filed against him.
The Gujarat government had announced last month its decision to withdraw nine cases related to the Patidar quota agitation, including two sedition cases.
The accused were initially charged with inciting members of the Patidar community to demand reservations in educational institutions and government jobs. Authorities had alleged that their actions were premeditated and intended to foster disaffection and contempt toward the Gujarat government.
The sedition charges stemmed from large-scale violence that erupted in Gujarat following a massive rally by the Patidar community in Ahmedabad on August 25, 2015.
The Ahmedabad crime branch subsequently arrested Hardik Patel and three others, charging them under IPC Sections 124A (sedition) and 120B (criminal conspiracy).
It is noteworthy that Patel, who once spearheaded the Patidar agitation, joined the BJP in 2022, marking a significant shift in his political trajectory.
Additionally, Surat police registered another sedition case against Patel for allegedly urging community youth to attack police personnel instead of taking their own lives in protest.
With the court’s decision, all legal proceedings related to these sedition cases stand officially withdrawn.
In an order issued on Saturday (March 1), Additional Sessions Judge M.P. Purohit permitted the withdrawal of prosecution against Hardik Patel, Dinesh Bambhaniya, Chirag Patel, Ketan Patel, and Alpesh Kathiriya under Section 321(a) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), news agency PTI reported.
The court formally discharged all five accused from the charges.
While sedition charges had been framed against three of them, Ketan Patel was yet to be formally charged, as he had been granted a pardon on the condition that he testify as a witness.
Meanwhile, charges against Kathiriya were pending at the stage of framing after a supplementary chargesheet was filed against him.
The Gujarat government had announced last month its decision to withdraw nine cases related to the Patidar quota agitation, including two sedition cases.
The accused were initially charged with inciting members of the Patidar community to demand reservations in educational institutions and government jobs. Authorities had alleged that their actions were premeditated and intended to foster disaffection and contempt toward the Gujarat government.
The sedition charges stemmed from large-scale violence that erupted in Gujarat following a massive rally by the Patidar community in Ahmedabad on August 25, 2015.
The Ahmedabad crime branch subsequently arrested Hardik Patel and three others, charging them under IPC Sections 124A (sedition) and 120B (criminal conspiracy).
It is noteworthy that Patel, who once spearheaded the Patidar agitation, joined the BJP in 2022, marking a significant shift in his political trajectory.
Additionally, Surat police registered another sedition case against Patel for allegedly urging community youth to attack police personnel instead of taking their own lives in protest.
With the court’s decision, all legal proceedings related to these sedition cases stand officially withdrawn.
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