A session court in Ahmedabad accepted the Gujarat government’s plea to withdraw the sedition cases against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Hardik Patel and four others related to the 2015 Patidar reservation movement.
In his order passed on Saturday, the court of Additional Sessions Judge M.P. Purohit accepted an application filed by Special Public Prosecutor Sudhir Brahmabhatta to withdraw treason cases against Hardik Patel, Dinesh Bibhania, Chirag Patel, Ketan Patel and Alpesh Kathiria.
The court freed the five accused, considering all the allegations made under Section 321 (A) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CRPC) as withdrawn by the prosecution.
Charges were framed against the three accused, but the charges against Ketan Patel were not framed, as they were apologized on the basis of appearing as a witness in the case.
At the same time, after the investigating officer filed a supplementary charge sheet against the accused, the case against Kathiria was pending in the phase of fraud. The Gujarat government had decided to withdraw nine cases registered in connection with the Patidar Reservation Movement of 2015 last month, including two sedition cases.
The court said in its order that the five people were accused of inciting members of the Patidar community for reservation in educational institutions and government jobs and they carried out it in a planned manner, which aims to “spread hatred and create dissatisfaction with the Government of Gujarat.”
After the Patel community’s huge rally in Ahmedabad on 25 August 2015, there was a widespread violence in Gujarat. The city’s crime branch arrested Hardik Patel and three of his colleagues and registered a case under Section 124A (sedition) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Surat police had registered another case of treason against Hardik Patel. He is accused of abetting the youth of his community to kill policemen.
