Assam court grants bail to Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani, calls 'fake' case

Mevani was arrested in the "fake" assault case on April 25 just after he was granted bail by another court in Assam in a case over his alleged tweet criticizing Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Mevani was arrested based on an FIR filed by one Arup Kumar Dey in Kokrajhar police station on April 19, complaining about the lawmaker's tweets against Modi.

The complaint read that the circulation of the tweet caused widespread resentment and has the propensity to disturb public tranquillity, besides being prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony among a certain class of people.

The Barpeta sessions court in its order granting bail to Mevani requested the Gauhati High Court to take up a petition on its own against recent police excesses in the state.

Mevani has alleged the ruling BJP is behind his arrest on the tweets against PM Modi and the subsequent alleged assault on the woman constable, which the court has now termed as "fake".

The sessions court also asked the Gauhati High Court to order the Assam Police to wear body cameras and install CCTV cameras in their vehicles to capture the sequence of events when an accused is taken into custody.

"Converting our hard-earned democracy into a police state is simply unthinkable," sessions court judge Justice Aparesh Chakraborty said in the order.

"If the instant case is accepted to be true and in view of the statement of the woman recorded by the magistrate...which is not, then we will have to rewrite the criminal jurisprudence of the country," the court said.