Rajpipla : A sessions court in Rajpipla, Gujarat’s Narmada district, on Tuesday found AAP MLA Chaitar Vasava and several others guilty in a case involving the assault, intimidation, and extortion of forest department officials. Additional Sessions Judge A.V. Hirpara delivered the verdict and sentenced Chaitar Vasava to seven years in prison.
The case is linked to an incident that took place on October 30, 2023. According to the prosecution, forest officials had removed illegal farming from government forest land and registered a forest offence. Later, the officials were called to Vasava’s residence, where a forester was allegedly abused, slapped, and threatened. The prosecution also claimed that a gun was fired into the air to intimidate the officials. The next day, the officials were allegedly forced to hand over ₹60,000 at Pitha Ground.
The FIR in the case was filed on November 2, 2023, and the charge sheet was submitted on January 30, 2024. The court formally framed charges against the accused on August 7, 2025. During the trial, the prosecution examined 17 witnesses. Special Public Prosecutor Amit Nair told the court that witness testimonies, documents, phone call records, and bank details proved the involvement of the accused. He also referred to other recent FIRs against Chaitar Vasava to argue that there was a pattern in his conduct.
The court accepted the prosecution’s arguments and found the accused guilty. Senior advocate S.K. Joshi represented the accused. Requests by the defence to recall prosecution witnesses and present defence evidence were rejected by the sessions court. These decisions were later upheld by the Gujarat High Court on May 7.
The Supreme Court also upheld the High Court’s order on May 19. Another request by the defence to examine witnesses was rejected by the sessions court and later upheld by the High Court on May 27. This cleared the way for final arguments before the court delivered its judgment on June 23.
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