Hardik Patel Moves Gujarat HC For Bail in Sedition Case

Hardik and his two aides have challenged the Ahmedabad sessions court order, rejecting their bail applications.

Hardik Patel brandishes a sword presented to him in New Delhi. (Photo: PTI)

Patel quota agitation leader, Hardik Patel, on Thursday, moved the Gujarat High Court seeking bail in the sedition case filed against him in October by the city’s crime branch.

Patel is also facing a sedition case in Surat. He and his two aides have challenged the December 11 order of the Ahmedabad sessions court, rejecting their bail applications.

The sessions court refused bail to Hardik and his aides – Chirag Patel and Dinesh Bambhaniya, saying they may resort to similar unlawful activities and disturb the law and order if released.

Ahmedabad police crime branch had registered a case against Hardik and five of his key aides under,

IPC section 121 – Waging war against government
IPC Section 124 – Sedition
IPC Section 153A – Promoting enmity between communities
IPC Section 153-B – Assertions prejudicial to national integrity

The high court subsequently quashed sections 121, 153-A and 153-B from the FIR, but retained the sedition charge. On Wednesday, Hardik Patel filed a bail application in the high court after the sessions court in Surat rejected his bail plea on December 10.

The Surat police had booked him on charges of sedition for allegedly inciting a fellow activist to kill policemen instead of committing suicide.