Bhagalpur: A court here on Monday granted conditional bail to Arjit Shashwat, son of Union minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey, and seven others in a case relating to last month's communal clashes in the city.
While enlarging Shashwat on bail, the court of acting district judge Kumud Ranjan Singh put a condition that he would not participate in any kind of dharna, procession, protest and agitation for the next 30 days.
Defence counsel Brijesh Mishra and Abhay Kant Jha argued that their clients, mainly Shashwat, had no intention of causing any social disturbance or hurting the sentiment of anyone during the procession taken out on March 17.
"If they raised slogans of Bharat Mata ki jai or Jai Sree Ram, what was their fault? Were they committing any crime by raising such slogans," the defence counsel said.
Central minister Choubey welcomed the court's verdict. "We have faith in the judiciary and since my son, along with the others, was falsely implicated in the case by some people having vested political interests, we were confident about getting justice," Choubey said in Buxar, his Lok Sabha constituency.
Shashwat had been named in one of the two FIRs lodged at Nathnagar police station of Bhagalpur following the communal riot that broke out on March 17 after some people objected to playing of loud music during a procession led by him.
It had been taken out without permission to celebrate the new year as per the Hindu calendar.
Several persons, including two police personnel, were injured in the clashes that witnessed heavy stone-pelting, arson and exchange of fire.
Shashwat was arrested by Patna police from near the Hanuman temple in the intervening night of March 31-April 1 after his anticipatory bail plea was rejected on March 31.
Following his arrest, Shashwat was remanded in judicial custody for 14 days by a Bhagalpur court. The court of the additional chief judicial magistrate of Bhagalpur had issued an arrest warrant against him on March 24.
A large number of Shashwat's supporters were present on the civil court premises. "We will celebrate the release of our leader and the other party workers the day they are set free from jail," said Khoka Choubey, a party worker from Dariyapur, the home turf of minister Choubey.
