A court in Ahmedabad has issued a non- bailable warrant against Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani for failing to appear for the hearing in a case against him for stopping Delhi-bound Rajdhani Express during a protest in January.

Additional chief metropolitan magistrate R S Langa issued non-bailable warrants against Mevani and 12 other people yesterday after they failed to appear before the court.

On January 11, Mevani and his supporters were arrested for blocking the Rajdhani Express at the Ahmedabad railway station for several minutes as part of a 'rail roko' protest against the Vibrant Gujarat Summit.

They were booked under Indian Penal Code sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting) and relevant sections of the Indian Railway Act. A charge sheet was also filed in the case.

The magistrate yesterday refused to consider the exemption application filed by Mevani's lawyer Samshad Pathan who pleaded that his client was busy filing nomination forms as an independent candidate from the Vadagam assembly seat.

This was the second consecutive time Mevani had failed to appear before the court. -- PTI