Ahmedabad

Senior lawyer B M Mangukiya, who is representing several Patel quota agitation leaders, today had a heated argument with a High Court judge over the bail plea of Nilesh Arvadia, a jailed leader, but later apologised.

Arvadia, a close aide of the quota agitation leader Hardik Patel, was arrested in September on the charge of sedition for allegedly trying to incite Patel youths by circulating audio-video clips with abusive content against BJP leaders.

The war of words between Mangukiya and Justice A J Desai took place when the judge asked him to withdraw the bail application saying he was not inclined to entertain it.

Mangukiya started reading out some Supreme Court judgements in support of the application.

As he went on reading, Justice Desai asked him to stop, saying he was wasting the court’s time as the court had already gone through these judgements.

A peeved Mangukiya who is also Congress legal cell chairman in Gujarat and former Congress candidate in assembly polls retorted that he had every right to argue his point. The judge asked him not to raise his voice.

But as Mangukiya continued, Justice Desai said he was recusing himself from the matter.

Saying “not before me”, the judge left the courtroom.

However, when the court proceedings resumed after the recess, Mangukiya apologised and requested the judge to withdraw his order of `not before me’ and give a fresh date.

The judge relented and scheduled the next hearing on the bail application for December 17 in his court.

With inputs from PTI