AHMEDABAD (TIP): The Gujarat High Court (HC) on Thursday pulled up Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) leader Hardik Patel and his lawyer B M Mangukia.

It appeared that the petitioner had taken “for a ride” the court with regards to filing a habeas corpus writ past midnight of Tuesday. The petition had been filed by Mangukia on Tuesday past midnight, alleging that Hardik was picked up by police on Tuesday afternoon and that they feared for his  safety. The division bench of Justice M R Shah and Justice K J Thaker came down heavily on Hardik’s lawyer and sought an unconditional apology, saying that despite the urgency shown while filing the writ petition, none of them bothered to inform the court after Hardik was found on Wednesday morning. It asked the petitioners that when the petition was pending before the court why then they opted to go to media instead.