Delhi riots: Court defers order on ‘immediate release’ of student activists for Thursday

PTI, Jun 16, 2021, 8:44 PM IST

New Delhi: A court here on Wednesday deferred its order on the immediate release of JNU students Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal, who have been granted bail by the high court in the riots ‘conspiracy’ case, for Thursday.

“Order could not be passed due to the heavy board of bail applications listed before the undersigned. Be put up for orders tomorrow at 11 am,” Additional Sessions Judge Revinder Bedi stated. Earlier in the day, the judge had reserved the order on their application for today after hearing lengthy arguments from the prosecution and counsel for the accused.

The high court on Tuesday granted bail to Narwal, Kalita and Jamia Millia Islamia student Asif Iqbal Tanha and directed them to furnish a personal bond of Rs 50,000 each along with two sureties of the like amount.

After securing bail in the case of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), the two women activists moved the trial court seeking their immediate release from jail.

During the course of proceedings, the Delhi police sought more time from the court to verify their addresses, sureties and authenticity of the Aadhaar cards before releasing them on bail. The Judge was further apprised that three days would be required to complete the verification process. Advocate Adit Pujari, representing the accused, objected to it and alleged that the police was intentionally delaying their release despite the order of the high court.

“You are keeping them in illegal custody. I have been granted bail and 24 hours have passed since then,” he said. The three student activists were arrested in May 2020 and are accused of being the ”masterminds” of the February 2020 violence, which had left 53 people dead and hundreds injured.

They were arrested under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

Meanwhile, the Delhi Police has moved the Supreme Court challenging the high court judgements granting them bail in the case.