Ahmedabad: A sessions court in Ahmedabad on Tuesday adjourned till February 15 the hearing on a bail application filed by quota agitation leader Hardik Patel, booked for sedition, as the investigating officer (IO) in the case failed to file a reply challenging the plea.
This is the third time when the hearing on Hardik's bail plea, filed last month, has been adjourned due to absence of the IO.
Additional Sessions Judge N G Dave deferred the hearing after the court was informed by the state government that the IO is currently in Delhi to attend a hearing in the Supreme Court in connection with this case.
Hardik and five of his aides are facing charges under IPC section 124-A (sedition), 121-A (conspiracy to wage war against government) and 120-b (criminal conspiracy) in the case filed against them in Ahmedabad city.
In a charge sheet filed on January 18, the police had termed his quota stir as a "pre-planned conspiracy" hatched to put pressure on government to accept their "unconstitutional demand of quota".
As per the charge sheet, inflammatory messages sent by Hardik Patel and his aides had caused widespread violence which resulted in the loss estimated at around Rs 40 crore. Hardik, behind the bars since October last year, is also facing another sedition case in Surat.
