Congress's Jignesh Mevani And 30 Others Acquitted In 2017 Rail Blockade Case

Gujarat court has acquitted Congress's Jignesh Mevani and 30 others in the 2017 rail blockade case, citing the 'benefit of doubt.'

A metropolitan court in Gujarat acquitted Congress legislator Jignesh Mevani and 30 others on Tuesday (January 16) in connection with a 2017 case involving the obstruction of a train as a form of protest against the policies of the state government, news agency PTI reported. 

As per the report, the court, presided over by additional chief metropolitan magistrate P N Goswami, granted the benefit of the doubt to Dalit leader Mevani and his co-accused.

In an X post, Mewani while responding to the development shared pictures outside the court and said: "The land issue was raised vocally during the historic Una Movement of Gujarat! The land allotted to Dalits has been in illegal occupation by casteist goons for years! There were many cases during this struggle, but today the Metro Court of Ahmedabad has acquitted us and 31 comrades in the struggle. We welcome this decision! The struggle to provide land rights to Dalit, tribal and OBC communities will continue!" 

Mevani, along with 30 others, faced charges from the Ahmedabad railway police for impeding a Rajdhani train for approximately 20 minutes at Kalupur railway station as part of a 'rail roko' protest organised to voice their opposition to the state government's policies.

The charges against Mevani and the others included sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) related to unlawful assembly, rioting, voluntarily causing harm to deter a public servant from duty, and criminal conspiracy. Thirteen of the accused were women. They were also booked under section 153 of the Railways Act, addressing actions that endanger the safety of railway passengers due to reckless or negligent behavior.

Representing the Vadgam assembly constituency as a Congress MLA, Mevani is also a convener at the NGO Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch.

In 2021, a sessions court had declined to discharge Mevani in the same case.

In a separate incident in November of the previous year, Mevani and six others were acquitted in a case stemming from 2016. The charges included unlawful assembly, rioting, and causing damage to public property at Income Tax crossroads in Ahmedabad. The group had been detained by the police for organizing a demonstration without permission, accused of vandalizing a police vehicle, engaging in disorderly conduct, and rioting. The protest was in solidarity with sanitation workers from the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation.