The Gujarat High Court today granted bail to Patel quota agitation leader Hardik Patel in two sedition cases with a rider that he will have to stay outside the state for the next six months.
However, Hardik cannot come out of jail for now as another case of mob violence at an MLA office is pending against him in Visnagar town of Mehsana district, in which his bail plea is scheduled to be heard on July 11.
Justice A J Desai granted bail to Hardik with strict conditions, one of them being that he will have to stay outside Gujarat for the next six months and directed his lawyer to give a fresh written undertaking on his client's behalf that he would not indulge in any activities that would lead to law and order problem.
The judge also listed other conditions as well in the written order.
The 22-year-old Patel quota stir spearhead has been behind the bars since October 2015, in sedition cases that were filed against him in Ahmedabad and Surat.
During the earlier hearing of the case, Government Pleader Mitesh Amin had opposed Hardik's plea saying that the state government is apprehensive that if he is let off on bail, he may repeat the offence and his presence outside the jail may create law and order problems in the state.
Hardik's lawyer Zubin Bharda had told the court that his client is ready to stay out of the state for six months if the court grants bail in order to remove the apprehensions expressed by the state pleader.
During earlier hearings, the government had declined to accept Hardik's offer of written undertaking for bail, in which he had stated that he would refrain from activities that may affect law and order situation but added he would "continue to agitate for grievances of the Patidar community in a peaceful and democratic manner."
Hardik had approached the high court for bail in the sedition cases, after the lower courts in Surat and Ahmedabad (where there are separate sedition cases against Hardik) refused to grant bail.
Reacting to the HC order today, Hardik said he has faith in the judiciary and added that the future course of the agitation will be decided after he comes out of jail.
Talking to reporters outside the Lajpore jail in Surat, where he was being taken after the court hearing, Hardik said that "in a democracy, the judiciary is supreme. As far as the future agitation is concerned, we will decide on further strategy after coming out of jail."
Patel community members in many parts of the state, including Hardik's family members in Viramgam town in Ahmedabad district, welcomed the decision of the high court by bursting crackers and distributing sweets.
Hardik, who heads the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti
(PAAS), and his three associates are facing charges under IPC sections 124(A) (sedition), 121 (A) (conspiracy to wage war against government) and 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy) here.
They are accused of inciting violence to put pressure on the government to accept the demand of OBC reservation for Patels.
Hardik's rally on reservation held in Ahmedabad on August 25 last year had sparked violence, in which, ten people, including one policeman, were killed and public property and vehicles worth crores of rupees were damaged across Gujarat.
Meanwhile, the BJP-led state government said Hardik got bail as it did not oppose his conditional bail in the court.
Congress, however, said that Hardik's bail was a "setback" to the government which tried to "suppress the voice of the state's youths."
The high court had granted bail to Hardik's core group members Chirag Patel, Ketan Patel and Dinesh Bambhania, a couple of months back after they submitted a written undertaking stating that they would not indulge in any activity that may cause law and order problem.
Government spokesperson Nitin Patel said Hardik and others got a conditional bail earlier as the government decided not to oppose them.
"Hardik's three friends were granted bail after government agreed to their written undertaking. Government had said it has no problem with conditional bail to Hardik and government pleader had conveyed this to the court by not opposing conditional bail. Hardik got bail in two sedition cases, but in Visnagar case he is yet to get bail. I believe the court will consider the matter worth granting him bail," Patel said.
State BJP president and minister Vijay Rupani said "Anandiben Patel government had appealed to the court that those who were jailed in connection with sedition and patidar agitation should be released. Government's lenient approach ensured that jailed agitators are gradually granted bail and took steps in that direction, even though it is for the court to decide whom to grant bail and whom not to."
State Congress president Bharatsinh Solanki said that "bail to Hardik is a setback for them. Congress has been demanding the release of Hardik and other jailed youths.
(Reopens BOM21)
The court has asked Hardik to submit his passport, if he has one, and deposit a bail bond of Rs 50,000.
He will have to mark his presence at the nearest police station every Monday when outside Gujarat. After returning to Gujarat, he will have to mark his presence in Ahmedabad on Monday and at Surat on Tuesday for a period of six months.
The court said in the order that Hardik cannot be kept behind the bars when three other applicants, facing similar charges, were granted bail in May after the state government accepted their written undertakings.
"There is no material put forward by the investigating agency (to show) that even if the applicant remains outside the limits of the state of Gujarat he shall continue the same activities," it said.
The Patel quota stir leader has been in jail since October 2015.
