4 key accused in Una flogging case get bail

This is the first time in six years that the accused have been granted bail by a court of law.

The Gujarat High Court (File)

The Gujarat High Court on Monday granted regular bail to four key accused among 41 accused in the 2016 Una flogging case where Dalit men were attacked by purported cow vigilantes in Gir Somnath district. This is the first time in six years that the accused have been granted bail by a court of law.

The court, while granting bail, imposed restrictions on the four accused — Ramesh Jadav, Pramodgiri Goswami, Balwantgiri Goswami and Rakesh Joshi — from entering Gir Somnath district except to attend the court, “till the deposition of the first informant and the victims are over”.

The court also ordered for the addition of the secretary of legal department of Gujarat as a party to the litigation and issued notice, returnable by August 5, directing that the department “shall make appropriate arrangement for conclusion of the trial” and “shall assure co-operation by the special public prosecutor”.

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The direction came following submission by lawyers of the accused persons that at least on 13 occasions, the trial court adjourned the trial owing to the absence of the special public prosecutor and that the additional district and sessions judge of Veraval, where the trial is being conducted, had to issue notice to the special public prosecutor to remain present.

The court of Justice Nikhil Kariel further directed the HC registry to call for details from the trial court on witnesses yet to be examined and sought that the sessions court “shall suggest an appropriate timeline for completion of the trial… the trial being adjourned only on a weekly basis”.

The court also directed the four accused to “furnish the address of residence outside Gir Somnath… to the IO (investigating officer) and also to the trial court at the time of execution of the bond”. It also directed the accused to not change the residence without prior intimation to the concerned trial court, and to mark their presence twice in a month at the nearest police station.

The court observed that the petitioners have already undergone pre-conviction imprisonment of almost six years, which is more than half the maximum possible sentence of 10 years under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 307 and 395. It also observed that given the imprisonment they have undergone, “there may not be any negative impact on the society”.

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In light of 36 others who were released on bail earlier, the court deemed it fit to consider the bail pleas of the four accused noting that the “trial does not appear to have progressed substantially, more particularly since all material witnesses are yet to be examined”.

The incident took place on July 11, 2016, when a group of cow vigilantes assaulted Balu Sarvaiya, his wife Kunvar, sons Vashram and Ramesh, nephews Ashok and Bechar as well as a relative Devshi Babariya.

The self-styled “gau rakshaks” first attacked Vashram, Ramesh, Ashok and Bechar while they were skinning the carcass of a cow in Mota Samadhiyala village, and accused them of slaughtering the animal. When Sarvaiya and others tried to intervene, they, too, were thrashed. The assailants then allegedly kidnapped Vashram, Ramesh, Ashok and Bechar in a car, took them to Una town and flogged them in public before abandoning them near the Una police station.

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