Guwahati HC Allows NIA To Frame Violent Protest Charges Against Anti-CAA Protestor Akhil Gogoi

Gogoi was arrested by the NIA from Jorhat district amid the high-pitched protests against the CAA during that time. Later, the stringent UAPA was also slapped against him.

Akhil Gogoi at a protest

Source : PTI

Akhil Gogoi, an MLA from Sivasagar in Assam, may face tougher times now that the Gauhati High Court has allowed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to frame charges against him related to the violent protests that broke out in the state after the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was passed by Parliament. Gogoi and three of his associates were accused in the anti-CAA stir in Assam in December 2019.

He was arrested by the NIA from Jorhat district amid the high-pitched protests against the CAA during that time. Later, the stringent Unlawful Assembly Prevention Act (UAPA) was also slapped against him.

Gogoi has been jailed for quite a long time. He fought the Assembly election two years ago while in prison and won.

There were multiple cases registered against him at different police stations in the state.

When the NIA took over the investigation, they added the sections under UAPA to a case lodged at Chabua police station in the Dibrugarh district. However in July 2021, a special NIA court acquitted the legislator, and Gogoi could walk free after spending more than one and a half years in jail.

The NIA had challenged the special court judgement in the Gauhati High Court. Recently, a division bench comprised of two judges quashed the special court order and asked the NIA to reopen the case and book Gogoi.

The court order said: "It is no doubt correct that the advent of CAB/ CAA had triggered widespread public resentment across the state of Assam leading to the sporadic outbreak of protests across the state. A number of organisations also participated in such protests.

"It is also correct that the members of the public have a constitutional right to resort to peaceful protest in such matters. The fact, however, remains that the prosecution is relying upon the record to show that the protests and agitations resorted to by the accused persons during the relevant time, in some places, had turned violent."

Gogoi in association with the active support of his followers, had not only mobilized the public and persuaded them to join the agitation in protest against the CAB/CAA but also had spear-headed such agitation in many places. During the course of the agitation, incidents of violence did break out in many places, the court order further said.

"As such, the approach of the learned Special Judge, NIA, in our considered opinion, was clearly erroneous in the eye of the law, thus having a vitiating effect on the impugned judgment.

"For the reasons stated above, we consider that the entire matter calls for reconsideration by the learned Special Judge, NIA. We set aside the impugned order dated July 1, 2021, and remand the matter back to the learned trial court to conduct a fresh hearing on the framing of the charge against all four accused persons," it added.

Following the recent High Court judgement, another jail term is on the horizon for the Sivasagar legislator.

However, an upset Gogoi said that he would approach the Supreme Court against the order, meanwhile, the NIA is preparing to tighten its grip on the MLA and his associates.

(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)