Sedition case against Hardik committed to sessions court

A sedition case here against Patel quota agitation leader Hardik Patel and three of his aides was on Monday committed to the city sessions court by Metropolitan Magistrate S M Kanabar.

The city sessions court will now initiate the procedure to frame charges against Hardik and his three aides - Chirag Patel, Dinesh Bambhaniya and Ketan Patel - as the crime branch had filed a chargesheet against them here last month.

Hardik is currently lodged in Surat Jail (in connection with another sedition case there), while the three others are lodged in Sabarmati Jail here.

All of them were produced before the Metropolitan Court on Monday.

The copies of chargesheet were handed over to their lawyers during an earlier hearing.

After their production on Monday, Hardik, who was brought here on Sunday, was taken back to Surat while the three others were sent to Sabarmati Jail.

Several supporters of Hardik gathered outside the court during the hearing and raised slogans demanding immediate release of the 22-year-old Patel quota agitation spearhead and other jailed leaders.

Hardik and his aides are facing charges under Indian Penal Code Sections 124(A) (sedition), 121 (A) (conspiracy to wage war against government) and 120 (b) (criminal conspiracy) in the case filed against them by Ahmedabad crime branch in October last year.

The police had in their chargesheet termed the quota agitation, spearheaded by Patel as a "pre-planned conspiracy" that was hatched to put pressure on the state government, to accept their "unconstitutional demand of quota.