NE NEWS SERVICE
GANDHINAGAR, MARCH 22
Gujarat government has withdrawn 10 cases lodged in connection to the Patidar quota stir, spearheaded by Hardik Patel, of 2015 ahead of Assembly polls later this year.
Several cases were lodged against those who participated in the stir, including Hardik Patel, in different parts of the state at the time.
Applications were submitted in different courts for withdrawal of cases as per directions given by the state government to collectors, Public Prosecutor Sudhir Brahmbhatt said.
While a sessions court in Ahmedabad allowed withdrawal of seven cases, the city metropolitan magistrate court allowed the withdrawal of three more cases, dealing with sections 143, 144 (unlawful assembly armed with deadly weapons), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt), among other sections of the Indian Penal Code, the official said.
- Now except for a sedition case against Hardik Patel, no case regarding the Patidar reservation agitation is pending in the sessions court in Ahmedabad: Public Prosecutor Sudhir Brahmbhatt
Brahmbhatt said that now except for a sedition case against Hardik Patel, no case regarding the Patidar reservation agitation is pending in the sessions court in Ahmedabad.
A metropolitan court is likely to pass an order on April 15 regarding withdrawal of a criminal case against Patel and others registered in Ramol police station in Ahmedabad, he said.
Hardik Patel demanded that all cases connected to the stir must be withdrawn by the BJP government and Patidar youth must be given relief, adding that the Congress would start an agitation if the demand is not met.
The withdrawal of the cases comes months ahead of Assembly election, likely to be held in December, amid a call by the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS), which led the stir in 2015, of relaunching the agitation if cases are not withdrawn.
