Overview
- A Rajpipla sessions court convicted Chaitar Vasava, his wife Shakuntala and seven others in a 2023 case of assaulting forest officials and extortion and sentenced all nine to seven years in prison on Tuesday.
- Prosecutors relied on 17 witnesses, call records, bank and documentary evidence and charged the accused under IPC sections for rioting, extortion and obstructing public servants and under the Arms Act for alleged firing with an unlicensed weapon.
- Gujarat Deputy Assembly Speaker Purnesh Modi said Vasava ceased to be an MLA immediately under Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act because the sentence exceeds two years, leaving his Dediapada seat vacant pending any stay from a higher court.
- The Aam Aadmi Party denounced the verdict as politically motivated, announced a three‑phase statewide agitation with marches starting June 26 and said it will file appeals in higher courts seeking relief for Vasava.
- The case began after forest officials removed alleged encroachments on October 30, 2023, and the conviction removes one of AAP’s key tribal leaders in Gujarat, a shift that could weaken the party’s position in the tribal belt unless courts stay the sentence on appeal.