The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to BJP leader Hardik Patel in a case of 2015 Patidar agitation in Gujarat for rioting, violence and arson registered against him.
A bench of Justice AS Bopanna and Hima Kohli made absolute an earlier interim passed by the Supreme Court granting relief to Patel in the case.
The Patidar agitation took place in Gujarat, and it sought reservation for the Patidar community.
In February 2020, the Supreme Court granted interim protection from arrest to Patel, who was then the Congress party’s leader. Patel had petitioned the Supreme Court in response to the Gujarat High Court’s decision to deny him anticipatory bail in the 2015 case.
Patel was initially convicted and sentenced to two years in prison by a lower court in Mehsana.
He had petitioned the Gujarat High Court for a stay of execution so that he could run in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The High Court, however, rejected this plea.
He then filed an appeal with the Supreme Court against the order, which stayed the conviction in April of last year.
