Guwahati: Jignesh Mevani, the functioning president of the Gujarat Congress and an MLA, was given a 6-month prison term in a 2016 case along with 18 other defendants by the Ahmedabad Metro Police Court.
Mr. Mevani protested the renaming of Gujarat University’s law building in 2016 along with other Dalit rights organisations. They insisted that Dr. BR Ambedkar’s name be given to the structure.
To allow them to file appeals, the Appellate Sessions Court delayed the sentencing until October 17 and granted bail to the accused. All 19 defendants were given bail by the court.
Jignesh Mevani, in particular, is currently free on bail issued by the Assam court. He was detained in relation to his allegedly defamatory comments towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A Gujarati police team from Palanpur town detained Mr. Mevani after discovering a few of his tweets.
A Gujarat court sentenced Mr. Mevani to three months in prison in May of this year for organising a demonstration without authorization in 2017.
Jignesh Mevani, Reshma Patel, Kaushik Parmar of the National Dalit Adhikar Manch, Subodh Parmar, and ten other people were all given three months in prison and a $1,000 fine.
In 2017, Mr. Mevani and his companions led a “Azadi Kooch” through the neighbouring Banaskantha district from Mehsana to Dhanera. According to Section 143 of the Indian Penal Code, the Mehsana police filed an unlawful assembly charge against Mr. Mevani and others in 2017.
The Gujarat legislator’s detention had been denounced by the Assam state Congress unit. Mr. Mevani was elected as an independent MLA and gave Congress his support in September 2019.