Assam court reserves order on bail plea of Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani

Guwahati | A court in Assam’s Kokrajhar district on Sunday reserved its order on the bail petition of Independent Gujarat MLA and Dalit activist Jignesh Mevani, and sent him to one day judicial custody.

The Chief Judicial Magistrate’s court, according to lawyers, asked police to produce Mevani again in the court on Monday, when the court is likely to give its order on his bail petition.

After the CJM court’s order, Mevani’s lawyers told the media that they would appeal in a higher court for his bail.

Arrested from his home state on Wednesday night in connection with an “objectionable” comment against the Prime Minister he made through a tweet on April 18, Mevani was flown to Guwahati on Thursday morning from where he was taken to Kokrajhar by road.

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His arrest came on a complaint filed by an Assam BJP leader seeking action against him under the IT Act.

The Congress since Mevani’s arrest, held demonstrations in different parts of Assam and termed the arrest as a “conspiracy”. It also sent its legal team to Kokrajhar to look into the matter. Assam Congress chief Bhupen Kumar Borah alleged that it is a conspiracy and “Goonda Giri” by the police, while accusing the BJP government of misusing the state’s police force to deal with a simple tweet.

A delegation of the All India United Democratic Front also visited Mevani at the police station. CPI-M legislator Manoranjan Talukdar and Independent MLA Akhil Gogoi had also met Mevani in the police station.