In a major setback to the Patidar quota leader Hardik Patel, who recently joined the Congress party and was keen to contest Lok Sabha polls, the Gujarat High Court rejected his plea seeking a stay on his conviction in the 2015 Mehsana riots case.
As per the Representation of the People Act, 1951, Patel won’t be able to contest the upcoming general elections due to his conviction.
Justice Uraizee of Gujarat High Court in his order observed that the Congress leader had several criminal cases and 17 FIRs registered against him in various places despite an undertaking.
The court also took into account the number of pending cases against the applicant across various courts before rejecting his plea, seeking suspension of his conviction to enable him to enter the electoral fray.
The State government had vehemently opposed his plea contending that “a law breaker cannot become a law maker” because Patel had consistently broken the laws during and after the Patidar quota agitation in 2015 and afterwards.
In July 2018, the sessions court at Visnagar had sentenced him to two years’ imprisonment for rioting and arson in Visnagar town during the 2015 Patidar quota stir that originated in North Gujarat but rapidly spread in Patidar dominated pockets across the State.
The High Court granted him bail and suspended his sentence in August 2018, but his conviction was not stayed by the court.