NE NEWS SERVICE
MORBI, FEB 1
A court in Morbi district on Friday issued a non-bailable warrant against Congress leader Hardik Patel for skipping a hearing in a 2017 case where he is accused of holding a rally without police permission.
Judicial Magistrate S N Punjani at the court in Tankara town also issued non-bailable warrants against Congress MLA Lalit Vasoya, Amit Thummar, and Manoj Kalaria.
Of the 34 accused named in the FIR, one is dead, while 29 others, including another Congress MLA Lalit Kagathara, remained present in the court on Friday.
The magistrate issued warrants against Hardik, Vasoya and the other two for not remaining present despite a bailable warrant issued earlier, and adjourned the hearing to March 27.
While Vasoya represents the Dhoraji seat in Rajkot district, Kagathara represents Tankara constituency.
Before being elected on Congress ticket in December 2017 Assembly polls, were part of Hardik Patel led Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti which had launched an agitation for quota for the Patidar community from 2015 to 2017.
A case under section 135 of the Gujarat Police Act, which deals with `punishment for disobeying police order’, was registered against Hardik and others for organising a public gathering at Tankara in April 2017 without police permission.
