Assam: Akhil Gogoi Appears before NIA Court

Assam MLA Akhil Gogoi on Tuesday has once again appeared before National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in connection to the case that was brought against him during the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act demonstrations in the State.

Along with Gogoi there were three other people who were presented before the court. The other three people were identified as Dhairya Konwar, Bitu Sonowal and Manash Konwar.

The Supreme Court has ordered a retrial against Gogoi. The High Court has temporarily granted bail to Akhil gogoi.

However, the NIA will not be allowed to arrest him even he appears in front of the Court.

The case is to be adjourned till March. Meanwhile, Gogoi’s bail will remain in force till March.

Earlier, the NIA asked Gogoi to appear before the court on February 23.

Gogoi had to appear before the court after the Assam government had appealed to the Gauhati High Court to look into the cases filed against the Sivasagar MLA. Based on the appeal, the high court had directed the NIA court to reopen the case.

It may be noted that earlier, granting interim protection to Akhil Gogoi, the Supreme Court had directed against the further arrest Akhil Gogoi in connection with the matter till the case remains subjudice.

Gogoi had moved the apex court against the February 9 order of the Gauhati High Court which allowed the special NIA court in Assam to proceed to frame charges against him in one of the two cases.

A bench consisting of justices V Ramasubramanian and Pankaj Mithal noted, “Let notice be served on the standing counsel for the State (NIA), for the limited purpose of considering the grant of protection to the petitioner from arrest pursuant to the impugned order, returnable on February 24, 2023. In the meantime, the petitioner ( Akhil Gogoi) shall be protected against arrest in connection with FIR bearing ... dated December 14, 2019, Police Station NIA, Guwahati.”

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