A local court in Ahmedabad rejected the bail application of three jailed associates of 22-year-old convener of Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) Hardik Patel on Tuesday in the sedition case lodged by Ahmedabad Crime Branch (ACB).
Additional sessions judge N G Dave rejected the plea of Chirag Patel, Ketan Patel and Dinesh Bhamaniya, three of the close aides of Hardik Patel, who is demanding reservation for his community in government jobs and educational institutions under OBC category.
The bail plea was rejected on the ground that the circumstances since the rejection of their bail plea prior to the submission of chargesheet on January 18 had not changed and so it cannot use its discretionary powers to grant them bail. Judge Dave had on March 8 rejected the bail plea of Hardik Patel too.
The Ahmedabad crime branch had on October 21, 2015, against Hardik and five of his associates under IPC sections 124(A) (sedition), 121 (A) (conspiracy to wage war against the government) and 120 (b) (criminal conspiracy) for their role in the violent stir which in all had claimed the lives of 11 people, including a police constable. Two other accused, Alpesh Kathiria and Amrish Patel, have meanwhile been declared absconders.
‘The court in its order mentioned about the seriousness of the crime and examination of the role of each of the petitioner,’ Public Prosecutor Sudhir Brahmbhatt said. The PAAS convener is currently lodged in lajpore central jail in Surat, while Chirag, Ketan and Dinesh are in Sabarmati jail in Ahmedabad.
The verdict of the court despite ‘no-objection’ from the prosecution for their conditional bail has come as a setback for the trio who had in a written submission assured that they would follow all the conditions put forth by the court for bail. They had also expressed their willingness not to indulge in any activity that might cause unrest or law and order problem in the society.