Jignesh Mevani gets bail in police officer assault case

The court had heard Mevani's lawyer and the public prosecutor on Thursday on the bail application and reserved the order for Friday

A sessions court in Assam's Barpeta district on Friday granted bail to Gujarat MLA, Jignesh Mevani in the second case in which he was re-arrested on April 25 on charges of harassing a lady police officer.

Mevani's lawyer Angshuman Bora told DH that the court of sessions judge, Barpeta reserved the judgment on Thursday after the arguments put forth by him and the public prosecutor. "The court pronounced the order today granting the bail to Mevani. He is likely to be released tomorrow," he said.

Bora said the sessions court rejected the grounds on which Mevani was re-arrested in the FIR lodged by the lady police officer. The lady police officer alleged that the MLA outraged her modesty, used slang and threatened her while she was escorting him along with other police officers from Guwahati airport to Kokrajhar on April 21.

Also Read | Arbitrariness of authority in Jignesh Mevani's arrest

Mevani was arrested and brought to Assam by Assam police on April 21 for alleged offensive posts against PM Narendra Modi. The case was registered after a BJP leader in Kokrajhar, Arup Kumar Dey lodged an FIR alleging that Mevani's tweet about the PM was likely to "incite a section of the masses belonging to a certain community."

On April 25, Mevani was granted bail in the case by a court in Kokrajhar. He was, however, re-arrested immediately in connection with the case registered in Barpeta by the lady police officer. He was remanded in five-day police custody by the Chief Judicial Magistrate in Barpeta on Wednesday.

After his arrest, Mevani had alleged that his arrest was vendetta politics by BJP and RSS to tarnish his image.

Congress, on the other hand, alleged that Mevani was arrested by the BJP-led government in Assam keeping in mind his growing clout in Gujarat ahead of Assembly elections.

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