Sedition case: PAAS leader Alpesh Kathiriya gets bail

A sessions court in Surat on Monday granted bail to Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti's (PAAS) leader Alpesh Kathiriya in the sedition case registered against him in the city in 2015. The bail was granted by principal district and sessions judge RK Desai.

However, he is going to remain in jail only as he is required in an attempt to murder case registered against him under Section 307 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) in Amroli police station. Counsel for Kathiriya Yashwantsinh Vala told DNA that he will apply for Kathiriya's bail in the IPC 307 case on Tuesday.

Vala said he had sought bail for Kathiriya in the sedition case on the ground of parity. He had submitted that when the main accused in the sedition case is out on bail, there was no reason to keep Kathiriya behind bars. The lawyer also submitted that Kathiriya was not absconding as has been claimed by the state authorities. Notably, there are 10 cases registered against Kathiriya as per the state government's submission before the court.

Interestingly, Kathiriya was arrested by the Surat Crime Branch on Nov 19 in connection with two cases lodged against him in the diamond city—one of them being a sedition case for inciting a youth to kill policemen and another for attempted murder. He was arrested by Surat police hours before he was granted by the Gujarat High Court in the sedition case registered against him by Ahmedabad crime branch for widespread violence during Hardik Patel's quota stir.