Hardik will remain in jail till he gets bail in another case of alleged plundering, lodged at Visnagar

Saying that Patidar leader Hardik Patel alone cannot be held responsible for the violence in Gujarat during last year’s quota stir, since many people were pushing for reservation for the community, the Gujarat High Court Friday granted bail to the 22-year-old, who has been lodged in Surat’s Lajpore jail for nearly nine months in connection with two sedition cases. One of the bail conditions is that Hardik, the leader of the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS), would stay away from Gujarat for six months.

But Hardik will remain in jail till he gets bail in another case of alleged plundering, lodged at Visnagar. The bail plea in that case is likely to come up for hearing on Monday and his family expects him to be out of jail by Tuesday.

A single bench of Justice A J Desai said that as far as charges against Hardik are concerned, “it is not the right stage to decide whether sufficient material is available to prima facie come to the conclusion that he has committed offences punishable under Section 121A (hatching conspiracy for waging war against the State)”.

“I have gone through the transcript of his (Hardik’s) interview wherein he has stated that though the police personnel have attacked innocent people, the agitation would proceed in a peaceful manner. Another interview with regard to the allegation of planting a bomb in the assembly…prima facie suggests that the bomb is with regard to the bomb of votes,” the bench said.

Justice Desai imposed several conditions while granting bail to Hardik. The court ordered that two days after his release, he must submit an undertaking declaring that “he is ready and willing to remain outside the territorial limits of the State of Gujarat for a period of six months”.

In the court order, Justice Desai said that prima facie, Hardik, “a young man…formed PAAS with an intention to have reservation in government jobs and in educational institutions for the…Patidar (community), like other caste which are either included in SC, ST or OBC, on various grounds”.

At a rally in Ahmedabad, the court said, Patidar leaders repeatedly requested the crowd to remain peaceful. But the rally turned violent after a police crackdown on protesters, leading to Hardik’s detention on August 25, 2015, the order said.

The court said Hardik’s detention led to violence in different parts of the state, which claimed the lives of 10 people.

“It is an admitted position that a number of people from the Patidar community… were circulating messages among their community. Therefore, prima facie, the applicant alone cannot be held liable for miscreants (sic) of the other persons,” the court said.

“Therefore, in my opinion, the applicant alone cannot be kept behind bars,” it added.