Peaceful protest not an offence, says Gujarat court

Noting that "if in democratic setup, every dissent and peaceful protest is branded as offence then right of freedom would have no place in democratic setup," a district court in Mehsana on Wednesday acquitted Congress MLA and Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani and nine others in connection with a case of holding a rally without police permission.

Reversing the judgement of a magisterial court which had held Mevani and others guilty and sentenced them to three months imprisonment, Additional Sessions Judge Chirag M Pawar acquittal all the ten convicts while holding that the case against them was "baseless and without any substance or evidence."

Also Read | Rally over Una Dalit flogging case: Gujarat court acquits Jignesh Mevani, nine others

A local court in Mehsana had sentenced independent MLA and Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani and nine others to three months imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 1,000 each after holding them guilty in the criminal case registered in 2017.

Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch, an organisation Mevani heads, had taken out a public rally, "Azadi Kooch", from Mehsana town to Dhanera in Banaskantha district on 12 July 2017 to mark the first anniversary of the flogging of Dalit youths in Una, Gir Somnath district by a group of cow vigilantes.

Giving reasons for the acquittal, the judge said that not all accused were arrested from the place of the incident.

Observing that "nowadays misuse of power of statutory authorities and misuse of process of law for suppressing the voice of people and showing dominance of power is not unknown even in every democratic setup," the court said.

Apart from Mevani, Aam Aadmi Party leader Reshma Patel, Kaushik Parmar, Shiva Parmar, Ishwardas Chauhan, Lalji Shrimali, Gautam Shah, Dalpat Parmar, Somabhai Parmar and Subodh Parmar have been acquitted. Former Jawaharlal Nehru University student union leader Kanhaiya Kumar, now with the Congress, is also an accused in the case against whom the trial is pending.