The Gujarat High Court today stayed the arrest of two students who were named by police as accused in an FIR related to the Patel quota stir without following due process and investigation.
The two - Ashish Patel and Dhaval Patel - were not even in Gujarat (one of them was abroad) when the FIR was filed, their lawyer told the Court.
The reprimand came after the police accepted before Justice Sonia Gokani that Ashish and Dhaval were named "mistakenly" in an FIR filed on April 18, a day after the "jail bharo" agitation by Patidars, who are demanding reservation in jobs and education under OBC category, at Visnagar in Mehsana district, about 70km from here.
The 'fill-the-jail' agitation had turned violent, leading to imposition of a curfew in Mehsana town and suspension of mobile internet services in a few cities.
The HC also stayed the arrest of Ashish and Dhaval who were booked, along with 12 others, on charges of attempt to murder, loot and rioting.
The police told the HC a third accused, Prakash Patel, may also have figured mistakenly in the FIR as he can't be traced.
After their names figured in the FIR, Ashish and Dhaval filed a petition in the HC seeking its quashing. On the day of the agitation, Ashish was in Hyderabad, where he is studying medicine, while Dhaval was in Australia where he is pursuing engineering, their lawyer Rohit Patel told HC.
Rohit said the duo's local residential addresses were mentioned in the FIR. The police filed the FIR at 1 pm, just two hours after a clash between protesters and police at 11 am on April 18, during Gujarat bandh called after the April 17 agitation, he said.
This means the police had little time to investigate before naming his clients, Rahul said.
