‘No specific role attributed’: Court grants bail to 27 held in Surat violence case

“Most of the witnesses are police witnesses and hence, no chance of tampering with the evidence. Considering the pendency of the cases, it may take time in culminating the trial, which may amount to pre-trial punishment to the applicants/accused,” the court of 14th Additional District and Session Judge, R K Modh, stated, while noting that the accused had no criminal antecedents.

“This court is of the opinion that the case of the present applicants/accused is an appropriate case to exercise the discretionary power under Section 483 of the BNSS in favour of the present applicants/accused,” the court said. The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita deals with special powers given to High Court or Sessions Court regarding bail.

The court laid out certain conditions before the accused before granting bail. These included not entering the Lalgate police station area till a chargesheet is filed, submitting their passport, registering attendance at Lalgate police station in the first week of every month till the police submit chargesheet in court, not threatening the witnesses or tampering with evidence, etc. All the accused are residents of Lalgate police limit area. The accused were also asked to furnish a bond of Rs 25,000 each.

The bail application in the case was filed on September 17 while the hearing took place on September 18. Clashes had broken out late on September 9 after six minors allegedly threw stones at a Ganesh Pandal at Variyavi bazaar area. The minors were detained while 27 men were arrested under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections.

As per the case details, after the stone-pelting incident, the six minors were taken to Saiyedpura police chowky area. A large number of people gathered outside the chowky, seeking strict action against the accused. Following this, a number of local residents arrived and allegedly indulged in stone-pelting in which a deputy commissioner of police and two constables suffered minor injuries.

According to the complaint lodged by Lalgate police sub inspector Govind Rathod, a mob of 200 to 300 people were involved in the stone-pelting. The same night, police arrested 27 people.

On September 10, the accused were produced before Surat district court and, after a two-day police remand, sent to judicial custody at Surat central jail.

Additional Public Prosecutor Arvind Vasoya told The Indian Express: “We have pressed arguments before the court that if the accused are released on bail, they will again damage the peaceful atmosphere of the city in the upcoming festivals. We are studying the bail order and will decide the next course of action after that.”

Defence lawyer Zafar Belawala said, “We mentioned that…After this incident, Ganesh Visarjan and Eid-e-Milad passed by peacefully in the city…We also mentioned that all the accused were arrested from their homes, and they were not present on the spot.”