A Particular NIA Court docket Tuesday framed prices towards Sivasagar MLA Akhil Gogoi and three others, together with below sections of the Illegal Actions Prevention Act, for his or her alleged position within the 2019 anti-Citizenship (Modification) Act protests within the state. This comes greater than three years after an NIA court docket cleared Gogoi of all prices within the case.
The case towards Gogoi, an Impartial MLA and chief from the regional outfit Raijor Dal, and his associates had been filed on the Chandmari police station in December 2019. It’s one in every of two circumstances filed towards him throughout the anti-CAA protests within the state, which had turned violent.
On Tuesday, Particular Choose S Okay Sharma framed prices towards Gogoi below part 18 of the UAPA, which pertains to conspiracy or try and commit a terrorist act, in addition to below IPC sections pertaining to felony conspiracy, selling enmity between totally different teams, and assertions prejudicial to nationwide integration.
Nonetheless, the court docket dropped two important prices made by the NIA in its chargesheet – part 39 of the UAPA, which pertains to help given to a terrorist organisation, and part 124A of the IPC, which pertains to sedition. The FIR had alleged that Gogoi “secretly merged” his organisation, KMSS, with the Revolutionary Communist Centre and the latter was later merged with the banned CPI (Maoist).
Gogoi was in jail for over one-and-a-half years after his arrest on December 12, 2020. On July 1, 2021, he was launched after a particular NIA court docket cleared him of all prices, stating that there was no “prima facie supplies to border prices towards the accused individuals” and the “ends of justice calls for that the accused be discharged, with out making him endure the method of trial”.
This was appealed by the NIA within the Gauhati Excessive Court docket and in February final yr, and the HC allowed the NIA to border prices.
“Difficult an oppressive state could be very tough and heavy work. At present’s prices make one factor clear: the federal government continues to be working towards us… The court docket had given us aid, this court docket had mentioned that the fees towards are fully false prices and that this case can’t be taken up in court docket. Now once more the federal government is urgent for the case to be taken up,” mentioned Gogoi after Tuesday’s court docket proceedings.
Gogoi’s authorized consultant Santanu Borthakur mentioned, “As soon as the court docket frames the fees, there are two choices. Both to face trial or to method the Excessive Court docket towards this. We’re mulling over the matter and after finding out the decision, we’ll discuss to our shopper.”
