Guwahati: Supreme Court upheld the revival of a case against Akhil Gogoi, Assam’s Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) on April 18 in relation to the 2019 protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
Justices Pankaj Mithal and V. Ramasubramanian were on the Supreme Court panel that upheld the Gauhati High Court’s decision that had overturned Gogoi’s discharge in the case.
Gogoi is a well-known peasant activist and leader who was been accused of a number of offences in connection with the CAA protests in December 2019, including alleged membership in Maoist organisations.
The charges against him included provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), Sedition (Section 124A) of the Indian Penal Code and promoting enmity between religious groups (Section 153A) and Statement against national integration (Section 153B) under the Indian Penal Code.
The Supreme Court had reserved judgement on Gogoi’s appeal against the high court ruling as of March 20. Gogoi’s advocate, senior lawyer Huzefa Ahmadi had contended throughout the proceedings that there had been no claims made against him of misusing his freedom while out on bail after the discharge decision.
However, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta speaking on behalf of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had rebutted by asserting that the CPI (Maoist) which Gogoi is accused of transferring cadre to for military training is not a political party.
Additionally, Kanu Agrawal and Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati had emphasised that the charges under the UAPA were for the more serious offences of using terrorist methods and waging war against an elected government rather than peaceful bandhs or shutdowns.
Though Gogoi was able to stay out of jail since the Supreme Court had given him bail while the case was pending.
Gogoi took to Facebook to announce the news, stating “I was granted bail in the case today by the Supreme Court of India. I am free now. I will now play a stronger role as an Opposition.”
A special NIA court in Guwahati cleared Gogoi of all charges in July 2021 finding that his statements did not promote violence and instead advised people not to use violence.