Ahmedabad: The Gujarat government has withdrawn 10 cases lodged in connection with the Patidar agitation of 2015. As per sources, two charges against the leader Hardik Patel that arose as a result of the agitation for 10 percent quota for the Patidars, have been dropped while Geeta Patel, another leader of the Patidars, has also been granted respite. However, a treason case is still pending against Hardik.
Patidar community has been staging public rallies across Gujarat since July 2015 in support of the status of Other Backward Classes (OBCs). Hardik Patel and other leaders spearheaded the movement, which was organised by the Patidar Reserve Movement Committee. Three cases will be heard in a local court in Ahmedabad on April 15.
Initially, 485 of these cases were rejected as unsustainable. Later, the authorities developed a list of 235 cases. As many as 48 cases have been dropped so far, with 187 still pending. According to Hardik Patel, the government assured the Patel community that all the cases would be dropped. There were 497 charges filed against the Patidars of which 247 have been dropped. The leaders have given the government till March 23 to drop the charges against the Patidar leaders.