By PTI
AHMEDABAD: A sessions court in Mehsana town in Gujarat has granted bail to Independent MLA Jignesh Mevani and nine others in a five-year-old case of holding an ‘azadi kooch’ without permission.
They were granted bail on the condition of not leaving Gujarat without the permission of the court.
The judge also asked Mevani and others to submit their passports with the court.
A month ago, a magisterial court in Mehsana had convicted Mevani and nine others of holding the march without permission and sentenced them to three months’ imprisonment.
It had also given them bail to file an appeal in a higher court.
While admitting their appeal against the magistrate’s order, Mehsana Additional District and Sessions Judge CM Pawar on Friday granted them regular bail till the pendency of their appeal.
Granting of bail to Mevani was a routine legal process as he wasn’t jailed in the case.
Mevani and nine others and some members of his Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch were held guilty under section 143 of the Indian Penal Code for being part of an unlawful assembly.
The FIR, in connection with the march that took place in July 2017 from Mehsana to Dhanera in Banaskantha, was lodged at Mehsana ‘A’ division police station in July 2017.
Of the total 12 accused named in the FIR, one had died, while one is still absconding.
The march was organised on July 12, 2017 to protest the flogging of some Dalit youths in Una, and participants were stopped on the outskirts of Mehsana.
Mevani went on to become an MLA in the 2017 Assembly polls from Vadgam.
