Digital Desk: Jignesh Mevani, a Gujarat politician who was detained this week for allegedly assaulting a policewoman, was granted bail by a court in Assam's Barpeta district on Friday. Mevani was detained again after being released on bail in Kokrajhar in a different case involving alleged abusive tweets directed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"The district and
sessions court [Barpeta] granted Mevani bail on a Rs 1,000 bond."
"More information on the bail ruling is expected," Mevani's lawyer,
Angshuman Bora, said.
Mevani's attorneys
filed a new bail plea in the Barpeta court on Thursday, which deferred its
decision until Friday. Mevani was remanded in police detention for five days on
Tuesday.
The second case against
Mevani, who is the convener of the Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch and voted for
Congress last year, was filed on April 21 in Barpeta under Indian Penal Code
Sections 294 (singing, reciting, or uttering obscene song, ballad, or words in
or near a public place), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 353 (assault or
criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of duty), and (assault or
criminal force on woman).
Mevani, 41, reportedly used obscene language towards the policewoman on April 21 while transporting the congressman from Guwahati airport to Kokrajhar. On April 20, he was apprehended in Gujarat's Palanpur and taken to Guwahati the next day. Mevani, a lawmaker from Vadgam, was escorted to Kokrajhar, where governing Bharatiya Janata Party functionary Arup Kumar Dey filed the charge pertaining to purported tweets against Modi.
Mevani was placed in three-day police remand on April 21 and a day in court remand on April 24 before being detained again in connection with the second case.
