Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court today finally granted conditional bail to the Patidar Anamat Aandolan Samiti (PAAS) leader Alpesh Kathiria, in a sedition case with the rider that he would not enter in Surat district for six months.

The court of Justice V M Pancholi also instructed him to be strictly abide by all the other undertakings given by Kathiria for bail.

His advocate Rafik Lokhandwala today said that his client would not enter Surat for six months.

Notably Alpesh who was in hiding since cancellation of his bail in the sedition case by a Surat court on January 15, was re-arrested arrested from his friend’s marriage party on February 1 from Valenja on the outskirts of Surat city.

The state government which had earlier opposed to his bail did not object to the conditional one.

Notably Kathiria, a native of Surat, was earlier released from the Lajpore central jail in Surat on December 9 after spending almost 4 months in jail following his earlier arrest on August 19 in Ahmedabad. He was arrested initially with Hardik Patel and seven others while trying to go to Narol area for a symbolic fast on August 19 in Ahmedabad and was granted bail in that matter with others only to be arrested again in the sedition case lodge by the crime branch in Ahmedabad in October 2015. He was later handed over to Surat police in connection with two cases including another sedition case lodged in Amroli police station and an attempt to murder case.

After getting bail in all these cases one after the other he was released on bail but his bail was cancelled after the request from police following his involvement in around half a dozen cases and unruly behaviour after that. Audio and video clips of his alleged misbehaviour with cops and using abusive language for them had also gone viral. Soon after his release from jail on December 9, Hardik who was the first convener of PAAS had announced that Alpesh had replaced him to lead the quota agitation.

Now he is said to be in no-good terms with Hardik who had joined Congress. The supporters of the two former aides had clashed on at least two occasions.

DeshGujarat