Vadodara: The sessions court in Rajpipla of Narmada district on Tuesday sentenced AAP Dediapada MLA Chaitar Vasava, his wife and seven others, to seven years imprisonment after convicting them in 2023 case of assault, intimidation and extortion of forest officials.Additional sessions judge A V Hirpara also imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on each of them. The convicts include four women, including Shakuntala Vasava, the MLA’s wife.Amit Nair, special public prosecutor, said all charges of rioting, unlawful assembly, assaulting a public servant, extortion, criminal intimidation and under the Arms Act were proven against all accused.The incident occurred in Oct-Nov 2023 when Vasava confronted the forest officials for objecting to the use of forest land for farming by private parties. Vasava confronted the forest officials after inviting them to his residence to discuss the issue. At his residence, Vasava threatened the officials, slapped one of them and fired in the air from a pistol.According to the prosecution case, Vasava’s wife then extorted Rs 60,000 from forest officials for removing the crop and the MLA later destroyed the evidence by concealing or disposing of the pistol.The Narmada police arrested Vasava in Dec 2023.Nair said 17 witnesses were cross-examined during the trial and call data records between the accused and the complainant were produced as evidence.Nair also submitted the details of recent FIRs allegedly involving Vasava, contending that they reflected a pattern of similar conduct, including allegations of assaulting a citizen and creating public disorder.“All the accused have been taken into custody and they will be lodged in Vadodara Central Jail,” added Vandana Bhatt, in charge district govt pleader, Narmada.Vasava’s personal assistant Jitendra Vasava was accused of contacting the MLA on the phone and asking him to come to collect the extortion money.”“We sought the maximum sentence of 10 years on the grounds that an elected representative is expected to pursue lawful remedies rather than resort to violence, and no individual is above the law,” Nair added.At the stage of final arguments, Vasava’s lawyers sought recall of certain prosecution witnesses, but the sessions court rejected the plea. An appeal against the ruling was rejected by the Gujarat High Court on May 7 and by the Supreme Court on May 19.The accused then filed an application seeking permission to examine defence witnesses, despite having chosen not to do so earlier. This application was also rejected by the sessions court and later by the high court.
