Court quashes charges
against Harin, Ashok
The
framing of charges by the sessions court that led to the resignation
of Union minister of defence production Harm Pathak and state health
minister Ashok Bhatt have been set aside by the Gujarat High Court.
The single judge A.K. Trivedi on Wednesday quashed the charges framed
by the sessions court against 12 accused including Harm Pathak and Ashok
Bhatt that indicted them of rioting and murder during the anti-reservation
riots in 1985. Mayur Dave, a from Khadia, and Ghanshyam Mehta, a former
councillor, who are also co-accused in the case, moved the High Court
through a criminal revision application challenging the charges framed
by the Sessions Court on November 7. The High Court quashed the charges
and directed the Sessions Court to reframe the charges by November 23,
which was the date scheduled for the hearing of the case.
The petitioners contended
that they had not been given the opportunity of being heard and an important
document, a "court committee" report had not been extended to them.
They contended that a "court committee" was appointed to look into the
police atrocities in Khadia in 1986 as per the directions of the division
bench of the High Court. According to them, when the incident happened
they were with the court committee. They said the report of the concerned
committee was never given to them. They submitted that it was necessary
to plead their case.
Moreover, they said they
were also not heard by the Sessions Court before framing the charges.
The government submitted that the court committee report was at the
premises of the old High Court.
The court directed the
government to tender the copy of the report to all the accused before
November 21 and directed the Sessions Court to reframe the charges on
the accused after giving them a chance to represent themselves.
