A metropolitan court here has issued a non-bailable warrant against Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani for failing to appear for a hearing in connection with a case for stopping Delhi-bound Rajdhani Express during a protest in January this year. Mevani’s lawyer Shamshad Pathan had pleaded that Mevani was busy filing nomination forms as an independent candidate from the Vadgam Assembly seat. However, additional metropolitan magistrate R S Langa rejected the exemption and issued warrants against Mevani and 12 others. On January 11, Mevani and his supporters were arrested for blocking the Rajdhani Express at the Ahmedabad railway station for several minutes as part of a ‘rail roko’ protest against the Vibrant Gujarat summit. About 40 people are facing trial in the case.
