After getting bail in two sedition cases, Gujarat's Patel quota agitation Hardik Patel on Monday got bail in a rioting case, paving his way for release from Surat jail where he has been lodged since his arrest in October 2015.
On Monday, the High Court has granted him bail in a rioting case which was registered in Mehsana district. The court, however, has asked him to not enter Mehsana district for nine months.
Earlier on July 8, the court had given him bail in two sedition cases filed by Surat and Ahmedabad police while asking him to > stay out of Gujarat for six months .
The 22-year-old Mr.Patel became the face of the Patidar agitation seeking reservations in government jobs and education, in Gujarat, home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The agitation he led turned violent in last August in which over a dozen persons were killed in police firing while the authorities had imposed curfew in several places and towns and had shut down mobile based internet services across the state.
Varun Patel, spokesperson of Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS), welcomed the court's order. “We are happy that Hardik will be out from jail despite the Gujarat government's best efforts to keep him inside,”
He was first arrested by Surat police after a video became viral in which he was heard asking a distressed Patel youth to kill “a few policemen instead of committing suicide.” Subsequently, Ahmedabad police also filed a sedition case naming him and his top aides accusing them of trying to topple the state government using violent agitation.
