Surat Court Allows Withdrawal of 2018 Case Against BJP MLA Hardik Patel Linked to Quota Stir

A Surat court on Tuesday allowed withdrawal of a case of unlawful assembly filed against Gujarat BJP MLA Hardik Patel and four others that was registered in 2018 during the Patidar reservation agitation spearheaded by the former activist.

The case related to violation of conditions under which a pro-reservation rally in Surat was permitted by law enforcement authorities.

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Jitendra Singh accepted the state government's application to withdraw the case against Patel and four others registered at the Varachha police station in the city, the ruling party MLA's lawyer, Yashwant Vala, said.

As per the FIR, Patel and the other accused, including Alpesh Kathiriya, Dharmik Malviya and Ashok Jirawala violated the conditions laid down for the event.

Police had given them permission to only garland a statue of Sardar Patel, but they addressed a crowd of supporters gathered on the occasion, thereby obstructing road traffic and violating one of the conditions of the rally.

The police had then registered a case under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections pertaining to unlawful assembly, assaulting public servant and disobedience of lawful order, among others.

The BJP government had issued a notification ordering withdrawal of nearly 90% of cases related to the Patidar quota agitation, including those under sedition charges. A sessions court in Surat in December last year had withdrawn a sedition case against Patel and others.

Patel rose to prominence in 2015 by leading the state-wide Patidar reservation agitation, which demanded Other Backward Class (OBC) status for the Patidar community in Gujarat.

In 2019, he joined the Opposition Congress and a year later was appointed the working president of the party's state unit.

The 33-year-old switched sides and crossed over to the ruling BJP in 2022 and the same year he won the state assembly elections from Viramgam in Ahmedabad district.