Surat police file charge sheet against Hardik in sedition case

Police today filed a charge sheet in a local court against Patel quota spearhead Hardik Patel for sedition and other charges.
The 370-page charge sheet was submitted before Judicial Magistrate J B Rathod of Surat district court on recent directions of the Supreme Court.
The Gujarat government had contended before the Supreme Court on January 5 that Hardik may secure bail if it is not allowed to file the charge sheet by today.
Hardik, 22, convener of Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS), has been charged with sections 124-A (sedition), 115 (abetment of offence) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) of IPC.

The maximum sentence under sedition charge is life imprisonment while the minimum punishment is three years.
Apart from the charge sheet, documents running into over 600 pages, containing call data records (CDR) and other material, were also submitted to the court, said public prosecutor Nayan Sukhadwala.

The case of sedition was filed against Hardik at Amroli police station here in October last year for his allegedly controversial remarks instigating a youth of his community to kill police personnel instead of committing suicide, against the backdrop of the Patel quota agitation.
"If you have so much courage.. .Then go and kill a couple of policemen. Patels never commit suicide," Hardik had allegedly told one Vipul Desai, who had announced that he would kill himself in support of the agitation.

Patels had held violent protests last year in the state demanding reservation in government jobs and educational institutes under OBC quota.
"Apart from the transcript of Hardik's alleged talk with Desai, the charge sheet also carries purported WhatsApp conversations between Hardik and other Patel leaders, wherein he allegedly made derogatory remarks against some state political leaders including Chief Minister Anandiben Patel," said Sukhadwala.
Police have also attached intercepted telephonic conversations of Hardik and others.
"Through these evidences, police tried to prove that Hardik tried to incite youths to resort to violence during agitation," added Sukhadwala.
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On January 18, the city crime branch had filed a charge sheet, running into around 2,700 pages, against Hardik and the three others in the Metropolitan Court.

Apart from the main charge sheet, having statements of 502 witnesses, police attached Call Detail Records (CDR), call interception transcripts, CDs containing video and audio clips and forensic reports of mobile phones of the Patel leaders.
As per the charge sheet, Hardik and his aides, all part of agitating body Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS), were involved in inciting Patel youths to resort to violence as part of their pre-planned conspiracy, to put undue pressure on government to accept their demand to give reservation to their community under OBC category.
Despite knowing the fact that it is not possible for government to accept this demands, Hardik and others deliberately indulged in activities which are subject to sedition and conspiracy to wage war against government, the charge sheet said.

When Hardik was briefly detained at GMDC ground in Ahmedabad on August 25 last year after their mega rally, all his close aides deliberately spread misleading messages among his community claiming that Hardik was wrongfully arrested, stated the charge sheet.
Such inflammatory messages and rumours resulted in mass scale riots across Gujarat, which forced police to impose curfew in several parts of the state, as people resorted to stone pelting, arson and damaging public property for almost four days, stated the charge sheet.
Police said that due to such activities of the PAAS leaders, 457 FIRs related to arson, assault and rioting were filed across Gujarat between July 7 and December 3 last year.

As per the charge sheet, property worth around Rs 40 crore was damaged in the violence. The charge sheet alleged that 203 policemen as well as police officers were injured in the violence, while one constable Dilip Rathva died in Surat.