Gujarat High Court grants AAP legislator Chaitar Vasava seven-day bail to attend Assembly session

The Gujarat High Court has granted Aam Aadmi Party legislator Chaitar Vasava seven days of temporary bail so he can attend the state Assembly’s monsoon session from Sept. 9 to 11.

Vasava, the Dediapada MLA, is held at Vadodara Central Jail after a Rajpipla sessions court sentenced him in June to seven years’ rigorous imprisonment and fined him ₹25,000. His wife, Shakuntala, and seven others also received sentences in the 2023 case involving the alleged assault of forest officials and extortion.

The bail period will begin when Vasava is released. The court has ordered him to remain in Gandhinagar and barred him from addressing the public or the media. He is expected to attend the Assembly session and return to jail when the seven days expire.

The prosecution alleged that forest officials removed crops grown on government land near Bogaj village in Dediapada on Oct. 30, 2023. It said the officials were later called to Vasava’s house, where he allegedly threatened them, slapped one official and fired a pistol into the air. His wife was accused of extorting ₹60,000. The charges included rioting, assault on a public servant, extortion and offences under the Arms Act.

Vasava’s lawyers disputed the firearm allegation, saying that no weapon or ballistic report had been produced. The state government said the Assembly invitation had been issued under legislative rules.

On Aug. 24, the high court rejected regular bail and suspension of sentence. It said an MLA should have directed people toward legal remedies and warned that releasing a convicted legislator could suggest that people in power were above the law. The court also referred to his antecedents and alleged misuse of earlier liberty.

Shakuntala and four other co-convicts, described as secondary accused, received bail in July. Vasava has not been formally disqualified, and his appeal against the conviction remains pending.