Gujarat: AAP MLA Chaitar Vasava’s pre-arrest bail plea rejected

In its order, Sessions Judge NR Joshi said it was “clear from the submissions of the prosecution as well as the affidavit of the investigating officer that the current applicant (Chaitar) has played an active role and was involved in the said case…”

Reprimanding the MLA for taking law in his hands, despite being a legislator, the court said, “It is clear that the applicant intimidated government officials and also obstructed them from discharging their duties. This cannot be taken lightly… The applicant has been on the run for a long time and has not appeared before the police. If the applicant is granted bail, it could pose a hindrance to the investigation as the applicant can also fiddle with evidence or intimidate the witnesses in the case.”

Stating that Chaitar had failed to comply with the police notices and “indeed had a history of crime”, the court said, “Moreover, the applicant is the prime accused in the case and despite being served notices under CrPC Section 41 on November 4, 5 and 6, he has not presented himself before the police. The accused has previously been booked under PASA and was also outlawed in 2021. There are four other offences against the applicant that have been stated in the (police) affidavit… The applicant has also been convicted in a previous case by the sessions court and has been granted probation. Despite this, he has indulged in this crime and cannot be granted anticipatory bail.”

The court has considered the police submissions showing bank withdrawals of Rs 60,000 from the account of the complainant of the FIR. In response, Chaitar’s advocate Tadvi submitted that the accused had returned Rs 30,000 of the alleged extortion money and was willing to return the remaining half. However, the court dismissed the argument calling it a move “to gain sympathy”.

Merely returning a part of the amount cannot reduce the gravity of the crime, it said. “Moreover, the amount was recovered after the police remand application was granted whereas the case was registered on November 2. The sum of the alleged extortion of Rs 60,000 was paid on October 31 and today is November 21… It appears that the extortion money has been returned to merely gain sympathy. If the prosecution can prove that the amount was extorted by using force and criminal intimidation, there can be conviction even if the sum has been returned,” the court added.

The judge stated, “It is to be noted that the FIR is not just one against a ‘recovery’ but also ‘threatening forest officials with dire consequences’ by also firing from a revolver, which has not yet been recovered. The other accused in the case are still at large and evading arrest and have committed a crime under Indian Penal Code Section 386, which pertains to extortion by putting a person in fear of death or grievous hurt and has a provision of imprisonment for upto 10 years,” the court said.

Chaitar’s lawyer KJ Tadvi told The Indian Express that the defence urged the court to pass an order in the anticipatory bail plea, which had been deferred on November 10. “The court initially was to adjourn the hearing and reserve the order but we urged the court to pass an order so as to allow us to proceed legally. The court rejected the bail plea… We will now move the High Court on Wednesday,” Tadvi said.

He said the court considered the argument of the prosecution, which has objected to the anticipatory bail of Chaitar stating that he has a “criminal history” and had “used a weapon to intimidate forest officials” on the night of October 30 during a confrontation over the alleged ‘removal of crops from encroached lands’.

Chaitar, who has been booked in an alleged case of rioting, extortion and assault of forest officers, has been evading arrest since the filing of the FIR on November 2 while his wife Shakuntala, personal assistant Jitendra Vasava and a farmer Ramesh Vasava are in judicial custody.

On November 10, the Narmada district sessions court had rejected the regular bail application of Shakuntala as well as Jitendra and Ramesh Vasava stating the accused had “returned a part of the extortion money” after the police remand was approved by the court in order to “gain sympathy”.

Tadvi added that Chaitar’s wife Shakuntala had also moved the High Court seeking bail, the hearing for which is yet to be scheduled.
The FIR, lodged at Dediapada police station, alleged that Chaitar and his family abused five forest officials and assaulted one of them on October 30. Chaitar also allegedly fired a round in the air to intimidate the forest officer, who later filed a complaint with the police.

The FIR has named seven other accused– Shakuntala, Jitendra, farmer Ramesh Vasava and his wife, and three villagers from Bogaj village, including two daughters and a son-in-law of a man named Dungarji Vasava as well as two other unidentified men.