Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani, 9 others get 3 months in jail for 2017 'Azadi' march

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate J A Parmar held Mevani and nine others guilty of being part of an unlawful assembly, under section 143 of the Indian Penal Code.

Mehsana: In more trouble for Independent Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani, a magisterial court here on Thursday convicted him and nine others in a five-year-old case of holding an 'Azadi march' without permission and sentenced them to three months' imprisonment.

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate J A Parmar held Mevani and nine others, including NCP functionary Reshma Patel and some members of Mevani's Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch, guilty of being part of an unlawful assembly, under section 143 of the Indian Penal Code.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 1,000 each on all the 10 convicts.

Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mewani & 12 others sentenced to 3-months imprisonment & a fine, u/s 143 IPC, in connection with a 2017 rally.

Mevani and his associates led an ‘Azadi Kooch’ from Mehsana to Dhanera of neighbouring Banaskantha district in 2017.

— ANI (@ANI) May 5, 2022

The Mehsana 'A' division police had lodged an FIR under IPC section 143 against Mevani and others for taking out the 'Azadi march' from Mehsana to Dhanera in Banaskantha district without permission in July 2017.

Reshma Patel, then a supporter of reservation for the Patidar community, was not a member of any political party when she took part in the march.

Of the total 12 accused named in the FIR, one had died, while one is still absconding.