Prima facie case of sedition against Hardik Patel… needs to be probed, says Gujarat High Court

On the other hand, the single bench of Justice J B Pardiwala set aside charges under Section 153 A (spreading hatred between communities) of the IPC against Hardik. It noted that there must be at least two or more communities for applying this section.

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The High Court bench pronounced the order on a plea moved by the 22-year-old Patidar leader contending that his suggestion to “kill four-five policemen instead of committing suicide” to a Surat-based PAAS member Vipul Desai on October 3 does not amount to sedition. Desai had announced to commit suicide in support of the demand for OBC status and quota benefits to the Patidars.

The court, however, held that “prima facie a case is made out against the petitioner and the investigation is at an early stage which needs to be investigated further”. It said: “The demand for reservation for the members of the Patidar Patel community by itself is not an offence. It is open to the members of the Patidar Patel community to seek reservation, if available in law or the State Government, by way of a policy decision, deems fit to provide.”

“I am of the view that a speech or a statement, in which the speaker exhorts the persons, who are listening to him, to resort to violence, prima facie, could be said to be intended to excite disaffection towards the established government and amounts to an offence under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code,” Justice Pardiwala wrote in the order. Hardik had defended himself saying he never intended the consequences of his remarks and that there was no commission of offence by his statement, so the FIR should be quashed. He had argued in the petition that he never suggested any overt act even obliquely. It was only against a few policemen, therefore, there is no case of sedition.