Gujarat: AAP MLA, nine others sentenced to six months in jail in assault case, released on probation

A sessions court in Gujarat's Narmada district on Wednesday sentenced Aam Aadmi Party MLA Chaitar Vasava and nine others to six months' simple imprisonment in a case related to violence during a panchayat election.

Judge N R Joshi of the Rajpipla court, however, ordered their release on probation under the Probation of Offenders Act provided they furnished a bail bond of Rs 20,000 each within seven days. The court also directed them not to contact the complainant or his relatives for two years, and inform the court their present address and mobile phone numbers. Chaitar Vasava, who won from Dediapada, a Scheduled Tribes-reserved constituency in Narmada district in December 2022 elections, is one of the five AAP MLAs in the BJP-ruled Gujarat.

The court found the accused guilty under section 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code, but acquitted them under sections 395 (dacoity), 504 (causing intentional hurt) and 506 (2) (criminal intimidation).

Besides the imprisonment, the court also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on each of them.

After delivering the verdict, the judge observed that the accused were not involved in any other criminal case and had assured the court that they will behave properly, hence they should be released on probation.

Satish Vasava, a resident of Boraj village, had alleged that on December 19, 2021, the accused thrashed him and also snatched away his mobile phone and a gold chain for backing a rival group's candidate in a gram panchayat election.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)