Supreme Court Stays Conviction Of Congress Leader Hardik Patel In Patidar Quota Protest Violence Case

A Bench comprising Justices S. Abdul Nazeer and Vikram Nath was hearing a petition assailing the order of the Gujarat High Court dated 29.03.2019, wherein Hardik's plea seeking suspension of conviction for contesting the 2019 Lok Sabha elections was rejected. It may be noted that though the sentence in this case was suspended, since the conviction had not been stayed, Patel could not contest the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Staying the conviction, the Supreme Court said that it was a fit case for the High Court to have exercised power to stay the conviction.

Senior Advocate, Mr. Maninder Singh, appearing for Hardik Patel, argued that not permitting him to contest election amounts to infringement of his freedom of expression protected under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India, 1950. He asserted that he had already lost his chance to contest election in 2019.

Solicitor General, Mr. Tushar Mehta, appearing for the State of Gujarat, apprised the Bench that the suspension of conviction should be based on parameters of criminal law and not on whether Patel wanted to contest elections. He pointed out that there were serious allegations against him under Section 395 IPC(dacoity).

"Having heard Senior Counsel Maninder Singh and having regard to the facts and circumstances, we are of the view that this is the fit case for High Court to have stayed the conviction. The conviction is, hereby, stayed until the appeals are decided accordingly," the Court directed.

In 2015, Patel had led the Patidar reservation agitation movement seeking Other Backward Class (OBC) status for the Patidars. He was accused of ransacking the office of Visnagar BJP MLA. In 2018, a sessions court at Visnagar, Mehsana district sentenced Patel to two years of imprisonment for rioting and arson during the Patidar reservation agitation in 2015. The Gujarat High Court had suspended the sentence but not the conviction.

Patel approached the High Court seeking setting aside of the conviction in view of the 2019 elections as the Representation of the People Act states that a convict facing a jail term of two years or more cannot contest an election unless his conviction is stayed. The High Court refused to stay the conviction.  

[Case Title: Hardik Bharatbhai Patil v. State of Gujarat SLP(Crl) No. 9033 of 2021]

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