Gujarat withdraws cases against Hardik: what is the status of legal battles around the Patidar quota agitation now?

Hardik posted this gratitude for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on X on Friday (February 7).

गुजरात में हुए पाटीदार आंदोलन के दौरान मेरे समेत समाज के अनेक युवाओं पर लगे गंभीर राजद्रोह समेत के मुक़दमे आज भूपेंद्र भाई पटेल की सरकार ने वापिस लिए है। मैं समाज की ओर से गुजरात की भाजपा सरकार का विशेष आभार व्यक्त करता हूँ।

पाटीदार आंदोलन से गुजरात में बिन आरक्षित वर्गों के…

— Hardik Patel (@HardikPatel_) February 7, 2025

Of the nearly 300 cases registered by Gujarat Police against the protesters, more than 270 now stand withdrawn.

Hardik was 22 when he led the mass agitation demanding Other Backward Classes (OBC) status for the Patidar community in 2015, when Anandiben Patel, now the Governor of Uttar Pradesh, was Chief Minister. He backed the Congress in the 2017 Assembly election, and eventually joined the party in 2019. In 2022, Hardik switched to the BJP.

Cases against Hardik Patel

Hardik was named as an accused in at least 30 FIRs registered between 2015 and 2018.

Seven of these were registered in 2015, accusing him of several criminal offences such as rioting and sedition during the agitation demanding reservation for Patidars in government jobs and seats in educational institutions.

There were several other cases, too. Among them:

• In August 2015, an FIR was lodged at Kadi police station in Mehsana on a complaint by one Prakash Patel, who was then vice president of the Sardar Patel Group, a social organisation, accusing Hardik of financial fraud.
• An FIR was registered at Sachin police station in Surat under the Prisons Act in 2016 following the recovery of a mobile phone charger and battery, and a letter from Hardik’s pocket when he was being taken to Visnagar for a court hearing. This case was disposed of by a Surat court in 2017.
• Rallies and protests stemming from the Patidar agitation of 2015 resulted in FIRs against Hardik in 2016, 2017, and 2018. Most of these FIRs were related to violation of the executive authority’s orders against unlawful assembly in violation of CrPC Section 144, or for holding rallies or public gatherings without permission.

Current status of cases

Hardik told The Indian Express on Friday that seven cases were still pending against him at various stages of trial. All these cases related to the 2015 Patidar agitation, and he was accused of sedition in two of them.

One of these two cases arose from an FIR registered by the Detection of Crime Branch police station in Ahmedabad. The trial is pending before an Ahmedabad city sessions court.

The other case was in relation to an FIR lodged at Amroli police station in Surat. This trial is pending before a sessions court in Surat.

“It will take a week or more for the process to be completed, but the government has signed the order today, which will then be sent to the Collector and then the prosecutor’s office, whereafter the official withdrawal will be reflected. There are another 9-10 cases against others involved in the Patidar agitation for offences such as rioting and unlawful assembly. These too will be withdrawn,” Hardik said.

All the remaining cases have been withdrawn by the state, or quashed by the Gujarat High Court. Some have been disposed of by a competent court, and no proceedings were initiated in the remaining cases.