Hardik Patel, the leader of the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS), was released from jail on bail on Friday. He immediately renewed his call for the Patel quota agitation, saying: "Hum 2017 mein batayenge humaari taqat kya hai [We will show our true strength in 2017]."
However, Hardik will not be in Gujarat for the next six months, as per the conditions set by the court for his bail in two of the three cases for which he was arrested.
Patel's lawyer Zubin Bharda told International Business Times, India, that the PAAS leader has to follow all the conditions set by the court for his bail, having walked out on jail after nine months. Bharda said: "In the first two cases, Hardik has been asked to stay out of Gujarat — but within the country — for six months. He cannot enter the state within that time."
In the third case, in which Hardik was given bail, the last, the condition is a bit more specific. "After the six months outside Gujarat, Hardik can re-enter the state, and will have to mark his attendance at the concerned police station every Monday and Thursday of every month — one each for the first two cases. In the third case, he has been asked to stay out of the Mehsana district till the trial concludes," Bharda told IBTimes India.
He also said that the court had, in the third case, given Hardik the freedom to approach it three months after returning to Gujarat with the request to re-enter Mehsana district.
Meanwhile, Hardik received a hero's welcome on walking out of jail on Friday after nine months. One of his first acts after that was to visit a temple in Surat. He also renewed the call for the Patel quota agitation.
A Press Trust of India report quoted him as saying that he did not want a "56-inch chest, but rights for his community" — a clear jab at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was chief minister of Gujarat before this.
