Narmada, June 23 (IANS) A court in Gujarat’s Narmada district on Tuesday convicted Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Chaitar Vasava, his wife Shakuntala Vasava and seven others in a 2023 case involving the alleged assault and intimidation of forest department officials, marking a significant legal setback for one of the party’s most prominent tribal leaders in the state.
The court found the nine accused guilty in connection with an incident that took place in Dediapada on October 30, 2023.
Arguments on the quantum of sentence are yet to be heard, and the punishment has not been announced.
According to the prosecution, the case arose after forest officials removed crops cultivated on forest land despite restrictions imposed by authorities.
The officials had reportedly directed villagers to clear alleged encroachments from forest land in the area.
The First Information Report, registered at Dediapada police station on November 2, 2023, alleged that Vasava summoned five forest department officials to his residence following the action against the cultivators.
Prosecutors told the court that the officials were verbally abused and threatened, while one employee was physically assaulted.
The accused were also alleged to have demanded compensation for villagers whose crops had been removed.
The prosecution further alleged that Vasava fired a round into the air with an unlicensed weapon and threatened officials with consequences if compensation was not paid to the affected farmers.
The case included charges related to rioting, extortion, criminal intimidation of public servants and offences under the Arms Act.
Investigators alleged that the following day Vasava’s Personal Assistant contacted forest officials and repeated the demand for compensation.
The complaint stated that one villager had already received money before the officials approached the police.
Among those convicted were Shakuntala Vasava, then a member of the Narmada District Panchayat, Vasava’s aide Jitendra, villager Ramesh Vasava and several other residents from Jhadoli and Bogaj villages named in the FIR.
While some of the accused were arrested shortly after the complaint was filed, Vasava remained untraceable for several weeks before surrendering on December 14, 2023.
He was later granted bail and subsequently contested the 2024 Lok Sabha election from Bharuch as the AAP candidate. Vasava emerged as one of the AAP’s leading tribal faces after winning the Dediapada Assembly constituency in the 2022 Gujarat elections.
He has built his political profile around issues concerning tribal communities and land rights.
The conviction comes at a politically important time for the AAP in Gujarat, particularly in the tribal belt of south Gujarat where Vasava remains one of the party’s most recognisable leaders.
The party has not yet issued an official response to the verdict. The case had also been the subject of legal proceedings in higher courts.
On May 27 this year, the Gujarat High Court rejected Vasava’s plea seeking to examine additional defence witnesses, describing the application as an attempt to delay the trial.
The court held that his concerns regarding a fair trial were unfounded and noted that similar requests had already been rejected by lower courts and the Supreme Court.
–IANS
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