SC grants anticipatory bail till March 6 to Hardik Patel in Patidar stir case

The Supreme Court on Friday granted anticipatory bail till March 6 to Congress leader Hardik Patel in the case lodged against him in connection with the violence during the Patidar stir in Gujarat in 2015.

A bench of justices U U Lalit and Vineet Saran issued notice to the Gujarat government on the plea of Patel seeking quashing of a case against him.

"The case was lodged in 2015 and the investigation is still pending in the matter. You can't sit on the case for past five years," the bench said.

The Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti under Patel had organised a mega rally in Ahmedabad as part of the quota stir, and an FIR was lodged for "unlawful assembly" as the police claimed the event did not have requisite permissions.