Ahmedabad: Siddhpur resident Akbarmiya Saiyed has filed a petition complaining that the police wrongly invoked the Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organised Control Act (GujCTOC) against him and his family members merely for violation of Covid-19 lockdown guidelines.
Saiyed petitioned for the quashing of the FIR under GujCTOC by the Siddhpur police in Patan district, registered on Aug 27, 2021. He sought a stay on any possible police action. Justice D A Joshi on April 24 refused to grant any stay and sought reply from the state govt and the complainant, then police inspector at Siddhpur, Chirag Gosai.
“Learned Additional Public Prosecutor waives service of notice for and on behalf of the respondent – State of Gujarat. Direct service through concerned police station is permitted,” the court order reads.
According to Saiyed’s advocate H B Shethna, Saiyed and his brother Rizvan were caught by the Siddhpur police riding on a bike amid Covid-19 related restrictions in 2021. They were brought to the police station, and an FIR was registered against them for violation of notification during the pandemic. Their father came to know about this and rushed to the police station to relieve them. A quarrel took place, and their father allegedly assaulted a police officer. This resulted in a second FIR against them.
A couple of months later, the Siddhpur police invoked GujCTOC charges against them, citing a couple of previous FIRs filed against the Saiyeds. Rizvan, who is a practising lawyer, unsuccessfully sought anticipatory bail from a special court in Ahmedabad. He approached the HC for anticipatory bail, and the high court stayed the police from taking any coercive action against him in 2022.
Akbarmiya approached the HC last year for quashing of the FIR after the police filed a chargesheet and showed him as an absconder. The HC issued notice to the authorities concerned but did not get any response. He filed another application last week seeking a stay on any action emanating from the FIR. Advocate Shethna contended that slapping of GujCTOC charges was a vindictive action by the police following the scuffle between the family members and the police.
Moreover, the petitioner has contended that for invoking GujCTOC, there should be at least two FIRs for offences entailing more than three years of imprisonment before the promulgation of the special law in 2019. In this case, there was only one FIR registered in 2016. The other two FIRs against the petitioner were filed on the same day, and that too for the Covid lockdown violation. Whereas, the law says that GujCTOC can be invoked upon registration of an offence related to organised crime after the promulgation of the Act.
The HC has posted the hearing on Monday.