Mumbai court acquits BJP leader Chitra Wagh, two MLAs charged in 2021 Mantralaya protest case

A Mumbai Court acquitted Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Chitra Wagh and MLAs Manisha Chaudhary and Bharti Lavekar in a 2021 case for protesting and sloganeering against the then Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) led Maharashtra government.

A case was registered by Marine Drive police in September 2021 against the trio, who were protesting outside Mantralaya, the state secretariat, seeking a special Assembly session to discuss incidents of atrocities on women.

Magistrate N A Patel on Monday acquitted Wagh, Chaudhary and Lavekar. A detailed order giving reasons for the acquittal would be made available later.

At the time of the protest, section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which prohibits assembly of more than four people in the same area, was in force amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.