Jignesh Mevani Sent To 1-Day Judicial Custody; Bail Plea To Be Heard Today

Gujarat Independent MLA Jignesh Mevani, who was arrested by Assam Police for a purported tweet against the prime minister, was sent to one-day judicial custody by Assam court on Sunday.

New Delhi: Gujarat Independent MLA Jignesh Mevani, who was arrested by Assam Police for a purported tweet against the prime minister, was sent to one-day judicial custody by Assam court on Sunday. The further hearing in case against Jignesh Mevani including his bail petition will be heard on Monday, a police official was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

Additional superintendent of police of Kokrajhar Surjit Singh Panesar told reporters in Guwahati that the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) decided to remand him to one day’s judicial custody. Mevani’s three day police custody had ended on Sunday, after which he was produced before the court late in the evening and arguments in the case continued for over two hours till around 9.30 pm.

Panesar also said Mevani will be produced again before the court on Monday morning and his hearing will continue, including on his bail petition.

Mevani, seen with an Assamese gamocha (traditional towel) around his neck, was taken to the Kokrajhar jail from the residence of the CJM, where the hearing was held.

Meanwhile, the Congress continued to stage protest here in support of Mevani.

Assam Pradesh Congress Committee president Bhupen Borah and MLAs Diganta Barman and SK Rashid led a silent march from the party office here to Kokrajhar Police Station, where Mevani was kept during his police remand.

Congress MLAs and leaders have been staging daily protests demanding Mevani’s release.

Other Opposition parties, including AIUDF and CPI (M), as well as the state’s lone Independent legislator had also called on Mevani during his police remand and pledged their support to him. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday had termed as undemocratic and unconstitutional Jignesh Mevani’s arrest by Assam police.

Mevani, an Independent MLA supported by the Congress, was apprehended from Palanpur town in Gujarat on Wednesday night after a First Information Report (FIR) under various sections of the IPC and the IT Act was filed in Kokrajhar Police Station over his purported tweet against the prime minister.

According to the FIR, he had purportedly posted a tweet, claiming Prime Minister Narendra Modi “considered Godse as God”.

Mevani was flown to Guwahati from Gujarat on Thursday morning and then taken to Kokrajhar by road, where he was produced at the chief judicial magistrate’s court, which remanded him to three days’ police custody.

(With inputs from PTI)