Assam court grants bail to Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani

Chief Judicial Magistrate Court in Assam's Kokrajhar granted bail to Congress MLA Jignesh Mevani's in connection to a case relating to a tweet related to PM Narendra Modi.

Earlier on Sunday, the Chief Judicial Magistrate's court in Assams Kokrajhar district rejected the bail petition of Independent Gujarat MLA and Dalit activist Jignesh Mevani and extended his custody by one day.

Earlier last week, Mevani was arrested by an Assam police team from Palanpur town in Gujarat over a couple of his tweets. An FIR was filed against him after a complaint was filed by an Assam BJP leader, Arup Kumar Dey.

A case was lodged against Mevani under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), section 153(A) (promoting enmity between two communities), 295(A), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), and sections of the IT Act.

A couple of tweets on Mevani's Twitter handle are not visible on his feed with a message displaying that the tweets have been withheld in India based on a "legal demand".

In the controversial tweet, Mevani had reportedly requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure communal harmony during his recent visit to Gujarat.

Mevani claimed that he was arrested out of a political vendetta against him. The Assam state Congress unit, had protested the arrest of the Gujarat legislator.

Elected as an independent MLA, Mevani had extended his support to Congress in September 2019.