Habeas corpus plea filed for Hardik dismissed; penalty imposed

The Gujarat High Court today dismissed the habeas corpus petition filed by the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) members for the release of their leader Hardik Patel, observing that the plea was not based on accurate information and was moved in haste.

The high court also slapped a fine of Rs 5,000 on the petitioners.

Diposing the petition, a division bench of Justices K S Jhaveri and G B Shah stated in their order that the petitioners failed to substantiate their claims of illegal confinement of the Patel quota leader by police.

The court had noted that the petitioners, Ketan Patel and Dinesh Bambhaniya, have failed to prove that Hardik was illegally confined by the police.

The petition had been filed in September last year.

The court noted that the petitioners had filed the habeas corpus petition at a time when there was no emergency situation. The court said that the petition was not well intended. A fine of Rs 5,000 was also slapped by the court on them.

Hardik Patel had gone missing after addressing a rally at Tenpur Village of Arvalli district on September 22 last year.  During late night, Dinesh and Ketan filed a habeas corpus plea through their lawyer B M Mangukia before the high court alleging that the Patel leader was illegally confined by police.

On September 23, Hardik surfaced late evening and alleged that he was abducted by “person looking like cops”, who then left him on a high way after giving a warning.

At present, Hardik, along with Ketan and Dinesh, is behind the bars in a sedition case filed by the police.

In another development, the sessions court in Visnagar town of Mehsana district today rejected Hardik’s bail plea in a case of rioting and assault registered against him at Visnagar eight months back.

While rejecting his bail plea today, Additional Sessions judge of Visnagar K M Dave took into account the argument of the government that the quota leader may not co-operate in investigation if released on bail and may tamper with evidence.