Member of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly and Dalit activist, Jignesh Mevani and nine others were convicted in a criminal case of unlawful assembly registered against them for carrying out a rally from Mehsana town in July 2017 without police permission.
All of the convicts were sentenced by a court in Mehsana, Gujarat for three months in prison and a fine of Rs 1,000.
In addition to Mevani, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Reshma Patel is among the convicted defendants.
On Monday, Mevani alleged that his arrest by Assam Police is a pre-planned conspiracy “designed” by the Prime Minister’s Office to destroy him ahead of assembly elections in the state and termed it an act of “56-inch cowardice”.
On April 30, 2022, the District Sessions court in Assam’s Barpeta on Friday granted bail to Independent MLA from Gujarat, Jignesh Mevani, who was first arrested by the Assam police on April 20 in Gujarat in connection with an “objectionable” tweet against PM Narendra Modi.
Soon after the verdict, Mevani said, “We organized a freedom march in Mehsana to mark the one year anniversary of Una Kand. I along with Reshma Patel have been sentenced to three months imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1000. The man who is the plaintiff investigated the case. The place has not been commissioned by the investigating officer. We were told that we would be acquitted in a simple matter like not getting permission for a rally. I respect the judiciary and we will appeal to the Sessions Court. I hope, I get justice in this matter.”
In 2017, Mevani and his associates led an ‘Azadi Kooch’ from Mehsana to Dhanera in the neighboring Banaskantha district to commemorate one year since the infamous public flogging of some Dalits in Una, which sparked a large-scale agitation in the state.
(With inputs from ANI)
