A sessions court in Ahmedabad has refused to permit the Gujarat government to withdraw a criminal case against 19 Karni Sena activists who were booked for vandalising a mall, damaging property and torching vehicles while protesting against the release of Padmaavat in 2018. The court said that the alleged offence was committed “to achieve personal interest and maintain dominance of a particular community, ignoring public interest”.
The candle march of the Karni Sena on January 23, 2018 against the film took a violent turn. Nineteen participants were booked and chargesheeted, but the 2019 case is still in the courts.
The state government first requested a judicial magistrate first class court to allow it to withdraw the case under section 321 of the CrPC, but was refused in 2022. It then approached the Ahmedabad (rural) sessions court and submitted that the decision to withdraw prosecution was based only on the interest of the general public at large. The state government said that withdrawing the case against vandalism accused would be helpful in administering justice. It argued that the accused were not criminals but young persons who acted in heat of passion and were high on emotions at that time.
However, additional sessions judge Hardik Shah said that the court could not permit withdrawal of prosecution merely because state government issued an order to the public prosecutor to do the same. The court noted that the accused caused damage to the tune of Rs. 16.40 lakh during the rioting. It said, no reason was assigned in the application under CrPC section 321 for withdrawing the case against the accused. “If prosecution is permitted to withdraw case against such persons on basis of an unreasoned application, then it would definitely be against the public interest as well as against the guidelines laid down by the apex court,” the judge further said.