On Tuesday, the Valsad District Court acquitted Ex-Congress MP Kishan Patel & 9 other party workers in a case of kidnapping & rioting lodged with Dharampur police station in Valsad district.
The case dates back to 2010 when the Congress party won 13 of the 24 seats in Dharampur taluka panchayat elections, while the BJP won eleven seats.
As per the case, the then Dharampur taluka BJP president & current MLA of Dharampur Arvind Patel, along with Nainesh Ahir, had managed to bring two elected members from Congress faction in their support.
Following this, according to the prosecution, Congress workers allegedly kidnapped & assaulted BJP leader of Dharampur taluka, Shanker Gavit.
Shanker Gavit, a resident of Kogar village, lodged a Police complaint against Ex-Congress MP from Valsad Kishan Patel & nine of his supporters at the Dharampur police station on March 18, 2011.
Police had registered offence under Indian Penal Code sections 143, 147, 149, 323, 365 against the accused identified as Kishan Patel, Ramesh Patel, Arvind Patel, Jagdish Gavit, Babubhai Sindha, Somabhai Favad, Ishwarbhai Padva, Jayesh Patel, Champak Padvi & Pradeep Gavit.
The hearing of the case started in the Valsad District Court on Aug 20, 2011, while the last argument took place on July 3, 2019, in Principal District judge & JMFC Vikas Seoul’s Court. The Judge acquitted all the accused in the kidnapping & rioting case.
Defence lawyer Ayaz Shaikh said, “We are happy with the court order. The prosecution has failed to prove the charges against the accused in the court.”
Talking to the news agency, Ex-MP Kishan Patel said, “The police complaint was lodged against me & my supporters as part of the political vendetta by the BJP leaders & we are satisfied with the court order.”
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