Rejects Police Plea Seeking More Time
Natasha Narwal, Devangana Kalita and Asif Tanha were arrested in May last year on conspiracy charges linked to violence over the citizenship law
Agencies
In a major relief to Pinjara Tod activists Natasha Narwal, Devangan Kalita and JNU student Asif Iqbal Tanha, Delhi’s Karkardooma court, issued their release order after they were granted bail by Delhi High Court. The court turned down Delhi police’s plea seeking more time to verify the sureties and addresses of the three activists.
The three activists along with six others have been accused of ‘criminal conspiracy’ – leading to Delhi riots which killed 53 in February 2020.
Order on the release of Devangana Kalita, Natasha Narwal and Asif Iqbal Tanha came two days after the Delhi High Court granted them bail in the case.
The trio was arrested last year under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Pulling up the police for delay in verification of addresses and sureties, Additional Sessions Judge Revinder Bedi said, “I would say that this by itself cannot be a plausible reason for the accused to be kept imprisoned till the time such reports are filed.”
Taking note of the undertaking given by the counsel of the accused that their client will not leave the jurisdiction of the national capital, the court sent the warrant to the Superintendent of the Tihar Jail for their immediate release.
On June 16, Delhi Police had moved an application seeking more time from the court to verify their addresses, sureties and authenticity of the Aadhaar cards before releasing them on bail.
Delhi police’s claims in chargesheet
Delhi police have filed a 17,000-page charge sheet and a 1000-page charge sheet naming Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Faizan Khan, Danish, Parvez, Ilyas, ‘United Against Hate’ chief Khalid Saifi, Congress ex-councillor Ishrat Jahan, Tahir Hussain, RJD youth wing’s Meeran Haider, Pinjda Tod activists Gulfisha Fatima, Safoora Zargar, Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita as accused of ‘criminal conspiracy’ – leading to Delhi riots which killed 53 in February 2020. Delhi police have named Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and Faizan Khan as the main accused for allegedly planning the riots to ‘distract attention from Donald Trump’s visit’, under the UAPA act. The above-mentioned accused have been charged under several sections of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and several sections of IPC including – rioting, murder, criminal conspiracy which has a maximum sentence of the death penalty.
There is a difference between “constitutionally guaranteed right to protest” and terrorist activity: High Court
There is a difference between the “constitutionally guaranteed right to protest” and terrorist activity, the Delhi High Court said Tuesday, as it granted bail to three activists arrested more than a year ago in connection with riots that followed protests against the controversial citizenship law.
The High Court also said use of the anti-terror law UAPA (Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act) – which was invoked to file charges against the activists – must recognise the “essential character of terrorism” and a “terrorist act”, and that the law could not be “casually applied to criminal acts”.
Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita, who are members of women’s rights group Pinjra Tod, and Jamia Millia Islamia student Asif Iqbal Tanha were arrested in May 2020. They were accused of being the “masterminds” of the February 2020 violence and denied regular bail by the trial court.
This morning, in two separate judgments, a High Court bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Anup Jairam Bhambhani set aside the lower court’s orders and allowed bail on a personal bond and two sureties of ₹ 50,000 each, the surrender of passports and other conditions.