Gujarat: Court stays conviction of Congress MLA in 24-year-old illegal mining case

After the pronouncement of the sentence, Barad, president of Gir Somnath district unit of Congress, moved an application seeking a stay on the verdict to appeal before a sessions court. The magistrate granted his plea and stayed the operation of the order for 30 days

“I accept the judgment delivered by the court. But I am innocent. I will consult my advocates and will decide the future course of action,” Barad said.

The court found the MLA guilty under IPC Section 379 (theft). However, it acquitted him of IPC Section 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) for want of evidence. A mere fine of Rs 2,500 was also imposed on Barad.

According to the police complaint filed by the then royalty inspector MK Maru, which stated that Devaliya had been granted a lease to mine limestone from Pikhor village of neighbouring Talala taluka, Gir Somnath. However, the accused colluded to mine limestone from the grazing land in Sutrapada illegally and sold it to Gujarat Heavy Chemical Limited (GHCL), a private company based in Sutrapada by using royalty passes of the Pikhor lease.

“Documentary records of Pikhor lease and GHCL established that the accused had mined limestone from grazing land in Sutrapada and supplied to the private firm by using lease documents of Pikhor mine. As a matter of fact, the quantity limestone the accused supplied to the GHCL was more than the total available amount of mineral in Pikhor area. This established that the accused had mined the limestone from elsewhere and spot visits proved that it had been mined from the grazing land. The court appreciated this evidence on record and convicted Barad,” Dhaval Trivedi, assistant public prosecutor (APP) told The Indian Express.

Barad and one Gordhan Devaliya were booked under IPC Sections 379 and 420 by Sutrapada police.

During the pendency of the trial, Devaliya died, following which the prosecution dropped the case against him.

The prosecution examined 23 witnesses, mostly government officers, and also produced 40 documentary evidence. Barad was out on bail in the case.

Barad, brother of late Congress leader and former Junagadh MP Jashubhai Barad, is serving his second term as MLA of Talala Assembly constituency in Gir Somnath district. He was first elected MLA from that seat in 2007. He was elected MLA for the second time during the Assembly election in 2017.

Barad has become the second MLA of Gujarat to be convicted for illegal mining. Babu Bokhiria, the BJP MLA from Porbandar was convicted by a magisterial court in an illegal mining case in 2013. At the time he was pronounced guilty, Bokhiria was serving as a minister in the cabinet of the then chief minister Narendra Modi. However, he was later acquitted by Porbandar sessions court.