Gujarat court re-issues NBW against Hardik Patel in sedition case, fixes March 7 as next date of hearing

Ahmedaabad: A local court here today re-issued Non Bailable Warrant (NBW) against former convener of Patidar quota agitation outfit Patidar Anamat Aandolan Samiti (PAAS) and Congress leader Hardik Patel against whom a NBW was issued by the same court for similar reasons in a sensational sedition case last month and he was arrested and kept under judicial custody in jail too.

The court re-issued the NBW that it had issued on February 7. It has happened just a day after the Supreme court had put interim stay on the arrest of the former PAAS leader in another related case.

The court of ADJ, B J Ganatra re-issued the warrant as Hardik failed to appear before it in the case today. The court fixed March 7 as the next date of hearing in the matter observing that Hardik was willfully disobeying the court instructions and putting forth unacceptable grounds for giving him exemption from personal appearance.

Earlier he was arrested on January 18 after the same court had issued non-bailable warrant (NBW) against him that day in the sedition case, and was granted bail by the court on January 22 in that matter. But he was again arrested in connection with a case of violation of a public order in Mansa town of Gandhinagar soon after his release from the jail on January 23. He was taken to a court there and after getting bail the Sidhhpur police in Patan district of North Gujarat took his custody for production in a court there in connection with another case of violation of administrative orders/notification in 2017. He was finally released on January 24.

Notably the sedition case was lodged by the crime branch of Ahmedabd police for the widespread violence that erupted after his Patidar quota rally here on the GMDC ground on August 25, 2015. .The NBW earlier on was issued due to his repeated non-appearance on the dates of hearing in the sedition case.

Hardik was re-arrested soon after his release from the Sabarmati central jail here on January 23 in connection with two cases of violation of administrative notification but was finally released after getting bail in the cases on January 24.

Another court in Tankara town of Morbi district had on January 31 also issued a NBW against him for remaining absent during the hearing of another case there.That NBW was issued against Hardik and three others including Congress MLA from Dhoraji and his former aide Lalit Vasoya for holding a rally in the town in April 2017 without official permission.

Hardik is the main accused in another sedition case in Surat for his alleged provocative suggestion to his aides to kill policemen and he was also on bail in that matter. He was jailed in connection with the two sedition cases and had also spent six months outside Gujarat as part of his bail condition. Several government run buses, police stations were torched and other public property including railway tracks damaged during the violence that had erupted after the rally in Ahmedabad. The crime branch of the city police in its charge sheet alleged that Hardik and his aides had spread the violence under a conspiracy.

There were numerous other cases also lodged against the former PAAS leader.

Another court here had also on January 30 rejected the anticipatory bail plea of Hardik in connection with a case lodged for misbehaving with government officials at GMDC ground after his rally in August 2015. The Gujarat high court had also refused to give him relief in this matter, the supreme court however, on February 28 had put an interim stay on his arrest in this matter till March 6.