Congress MLA Jignesh Mevani, 30 others acquitted in 2017 Guj train obstruction case

Ahmedabad: An Ahmedabad court on Tuesday acquitted Congress legislator Jignesh Mevani and 30 others in a case relating to allegedly obstructing a train amid a protest in 2017.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate P.N. Goswami acquitted all the accused, who included 13 women, giving them the benefit of doubt.

Mevani, currently the MLA from Vadgam, and the others were accused of organising and participating in a 'rail roko' demonstration, lasting around 20 minutes, at the Kalupur railway station amid a protest against the state government's policies.

The 2017 incident led to charges under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including unlawful assembly, rioting, voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servants from their duties, and criminal conspiracy.

Additionally, they were indicted under Section 153 of the Railways Act, a statute concerning the endangerment of railway passenger safety through rash or negligent acts.

A session court had, in 2021 declined to discharge Mevani in this case.

This recent acquittal comes after another legal clearance for Mevani and six others last November in a case, filed in 2016, of alleged unlawful assembly, rioting, and causing damage to public property at the Income Tax crossroads in Ahmedabad.

The 2016 incident involved a demonstration, in support of sanitation workers of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, allegedly organised without police permission, during which a police vehicle was reportedly vandalised.