Criticising Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) convener Hardik Patel and his lawyer BM Mangukia, Gujarat High Court (HC) on Thursday said that it seemed they took the court ‘for a ride’ by filing a Habeas corpus writ past midnight. The HC also denied relief to Hardik and said “let the law take its own course.”
While seeking an unconditional apology, the Division Bench comprising Justice MR Shah and Justice KJ Thaker said that despite the urgency shown while filing the writ petition, neither PAAS convener nor his lawyer bothered to inform the court after the corpus (Hardik) was found on Wednesday morning.
The HC asked that when the petition was pending before the court then why did they approach the media. The Bench has also directed Mangukia to remain present before the court post the next hearing scheduled for September 29 and substantiate the allegations against the police mentioned in the petition.
Hardik’s lawyer Mangukia had filed a petition at around 1.30 am on Wednesday alleging that the police had picked up the PAAS convener but they were not showing his detention. Reacting to the petition, Gujarat’s Minister of State for Home Rajnikant Patel had to clarify on Wednesday that Hardik was not in police custody and in fact the cops were looking for him. later on Hardik told the media that he was picked up by some unidentified people who asked him to cease the ongoing pro-quota agitation.
At around 11.00 am Hardik appeared before the court after his dramatic disappearance. He also repeated the abduction story that he had narrated to the media a day before. The PAAS convener blamed that the unidentified persons who abducted him seemed to be policemen in civil dress and they threatened him with dire consequences before freeing him. The HC also questioned the veracity of his charges of abduction and being kept in illegal custody and stated that if told one lie, he would have to tell a hundred lies.