The 22-year-old Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) convener Hardik Patel on Tuesday moved a petition before the Gujarat High Court seeking to set aside the sedition charges slapped on him in Surat.
PAAS convener’s father Bharat Patel moved the plea on behalf his son saying that no offence can be disclosed by spoken words of Hardik and no overt act can be attributed to him by those words. Hence, no offense has been made out, he said in the plea.
The court granted remand to Hardik Patel till Octover 23 in the case. The police had demanded the remand for seven days upto October 26.
“The charges framed are incorrect as there is nothing in the complaint that points to my client instigating an armed revolt by uniformed men, nor is he stating anything that increases tension between two religious communities, the key issues on which anyone can be charged with sedition” said Mangukia while talking to media persons.
If convicted, Hardik can be sentenced to maximum of life imprisonment, with a minimum sentence of three years as the section under which Hardik has been booked. On Monday, a case was filed against the flamboyant pro-reservation Patel leader in Surat for his alleged remarks instigating a person called Vipul Desai, that instead of committing suicide he should kill cops. The sedition case was filed under section 124(A) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) at a police station in Surat. Other Indian Penal Code sections that have been included in the FIR filed against Hardik include Section 115 (Abetment of offence), 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups, 505-2 (Inciting one community against another) and 506 (criminal intimidation).