Court rejects govt plea on Karni Sena activists

Ahmedabad: A sessions court refused to permit the state govt to withdraw a criminal case against 19 Karni Sena activists, who were booked for vandalising a mall, torching vehicles, and damaging property in 2018 during their protest against the release of the Bollywood film ‘Padmavat'. The court said that the alleged offence was committed "to achieve personal interest and to maintain dominance of a particular community".Karni Sena activists took out a candle march on Jan 23, 2018, in protest against the film ‘Padmavat'. The event took a violent turn, and 19 participants were booked for rioting, unlawful assembly, arson, and criminal conspiracy under IPS provisions, under Section 3(1) of the Damages to Public Property Act and Section 135(1) of the Gujarat Police Act. After investigation, the Vastrapur police filed a chargesheet, and the criminal case is pending for committal in a sessions court since 2019.The state govt first requested the JMFC court to allow it to withdraw the case under the provisions of Section 321 of CrPC, but the request was refused in 2022. It approached the sessions court in Ahmedabad (rural) and submitted that the decision to withdraw prosecution was based only on the interest of the general public at large and would be helpful in the administration of justice. The accused are young persons who acted in the heat of passion and were high on emotions at that time, and none of them is criminal by nature.Additional sessions judge Hardik Shah said that the court cannot permit withdrawal of prosecution merely because the state govt issued an order to the public prosecutor to do the same. The prosecutor did not apply his mind or express his opinion regarding the issue.The court further noted that the accused caused damage to the tune of Rs 16.40 lakh during the rioting. It said, "It was also recorded that the offence was committed to achieve personal interest and to maintain dominance of a particular community, ignoring the public interest, and no reason was assigned in the application under Section 321 CrPC for withdrawing the prosecution against the accused persons. If the prosecution is permitted to withdraw the case against such type of person on the basis of an unreasoned application, then it would definitely be against the public interest as well as against the guidelines laid down by the Apex Court."