A sessions court in Gir Somnath district granted regular bail to right-wing activist Kajal Shingala alias Hindustani who was arrested for alleged "hate speech" on Ram Navami which led to communal riots in Una town of the district.
Additional sessions judge R M Asodiya passed the order granting relief to 41-year-old Shingala arrested by Una police on April 9 after she surrendered voluntarily.
She was lodged at Junagadh central jail in judicial custody since then as police didn't seek her remand. The magisterial court had denied her bail on that day and sent her to Junagadh jail. Subsequently, she moved sessions court for bail.
Her lawyer R A Parmar told DH that the court granted bail on several conditions including her presence at the police station twice a month, not leaving India and surrendering her passport, not entering Gir Somnath district unless there is a hearing on her case, among others. He said that Shingala may be out of jail by Thursday evening.
In the bail plea, Shingala claimed that she never committed any offence as alleged in the FIR. Instead, she said, that "police registered the fake case against her to show good work."
She has mentioned as "a woman she has the responsibility of taking care of children and the court should have mercy on her." She said that she was a resident of Jamanagar where she has immovable properties and will not run away if granted bail.
Shingala is accused of giving a provocative speech on Ram Navami on March 30, triggering communal riots a day later. She was booked on a complaint lodged by assistant sub-inspector with Una police station Kantibhai Ramjibhai under section 153 A( promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, etc and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code.
She has over 96,000 followers including PM Narendra Modi on Twitter where she identifies herself as "an entrepreneur, research analyst, debater, social activist, nationalist and proud Hindustani." Following her controversial speech on Muslims during Ram Navami, communal clashes erupted in Una town.
The police named 76 people as accused in the FIR and a mob of about 200 men from the minority community who were booked for rioting, and voluntarily causing hurt, among other charges.