Ahmedabad
An Ahmedabad court on Tuesday acquitted Congress legislator Jignesh Mevani and 30 others, including 13 women, in a case related to allegedly obstructing a train during a protest in 2017. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate P.N. Goswami granted the benefit of doubt to all the accused. Mevani, currently serving as the MLA from Vadgam, and others were accused of organizing and participating in a ‘rail roko’ demonstration at the Kalupur railway station, lasting around 20 minutes, as part of a protest against the state government’s policies. The incident in 2017 resulted in charges under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including unlawful assembly, rioting, causing hurt to deter public servants from their duties, and criminal conspiracy. Additionally, they faced charges under Section 153 of the Railways Act, relating to endangering railway passenger safety through rash or negligent acts. While a session court in 2021 had declined to discharge Mevani in this case, the recent acquittal follows another legal clearance in November 2023 for Mevani and six others in a 2016 case. The 2016 incident involved alleged unlawful assembly, rioting, and damage to public property during a demonstration in support of sanitation workers of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation.
