Guwahati, Feb 24: Following a directive of the Gauhati High Court, the Special NIA Court on Thursday re-opened a case against Assam MLA Akhil Gogoi and his three associates in connection with anti-CAA protest.
Akhil Gogoi’s advocate presented before the NIA court the Supreme Court’s order giving protection from arrest till February 24 in connection with the case related to the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act stir and suspected Maoist links.
On February 9, the Gauhati High Court allowed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to frame charges against Gogoi and three others in the case. Its order had come on an appeal of the NIA challenging the order of the Special NIA Court giving clean chit to the four.
Special NIA Judge Pranjal Das deferred the hearing and listed the case on February 28.
The other three accused are Dhaijya Konwar, Bittu Sonowal and Manash Konwar, all of whom had gotten bail in the NIA case and were released from jail.
Gogoi was the only one whose bail was rejected by the court and he was released after spending 567 days in jail after the Special NIA Judge Pranjal Das had cleared him along with the three others of all charges.
The NIA was investigating two cases involving Gogoi, related to anti-CAA violence. In one of those, the Special NIA Court had granted him bail, which was upheld by the Gauhati High Court too in April 2021 after the probe agency challenged it.
