- A Delhi court granted bail to 10 individuals, mostly students, who were arrested by police for protesting against severe air pollution near India Gate on November 23.
- The judge observed that despite police allegations of “anti-national” behavior, no evidence was found linking the accused to radical Naxalite organizations.
- The court ruled that keeping the students in judicial custody was unnecessary because investigators had already seized their mobile phones and secured CCTV footage of the incident.
- While 10 applicants were released, bail was denied to one protester named Ilakiya, following police claims that the group assaulted staff and raised inflammatory slogans.
On Tuesday, the Patiala House Courts delivered a significant check on police authority, granting bail to 10 individuals, mostly students, who had been incarcerated following a chaotic protest against Delhi’s hazardous air quality.
The ruling effectively dismantled the immediate validity of the Delhi Police’s gravest accusation: that the young demonstrators were operatives of a radical Naxalite outfit.
The proceedings before Judicial Magistrate First Class Aridaman Singh Cheema highlighted a sharp disconnect between the police’s courtroom narrative and the evidence currently on file.
Prosecutors had opposed bail, arguing that the accused, specifically a student named Banka Akash, were affiliated with banned left-wing extremist groups.
The court, however, was unconvinced. In a decisive order, Magistrate Cheema observed that the investigation had yet to produce a shred of tangible evidence linking the students to the underground insurgency.
“Perusal of the record reveals that the CCTV footages and video clips of the incident/protest are already available to investigating agency,”
the Court noted.
“The mobile phones of the accused have been seized by the police. Nothing has been discovered against the accused qua the membership of Radical Organizations related to Naxalites.”
With the digital evidence secured and the “radical link” theory unsubstantiated, the court ruled that further judicial custody served no legal purpose.
Criminal Charges
The genesis of the case lies in the capital’s annual environmental crisis. On November 23, a group of citizens gathered at the iconic India Gate to demonstrate against the government’s handling of the city’s severe pollution levels.
According to the Delhi Police, the assembly was illegal. Authorities claim the protesters were directed to Jantar Mantar, the designated site for civil agitation, but refused to relocate. The situation rapidly deteriorated into a physical confrontation.
The police First Information Report (FIR) paints a volatile picture: traffic blockades, assaults on female personnel, and the alleged use of chilli spray against a constable.
More politically charged were the allegations that the crowd began chanting slogans such as “Long Live Hidma” and “Red Salute to Hidma”, references to Madvi Hidma, a notorious Naxalite commander killed by security forces just days prior, on November 18.
The Verdict
While the police successfully argued the severity of the confrontation, their attempt to frame the pollution protest as a cover for anti-national activity failed to hold water for the purpose of denying bail.
The court granted relief to Aatreya Chaudhary, Prakash Kumar Gupta, Vishnu Tiwari, Shreshth Mukund, Banka Akash, Ahan Arun Upadhyay, Satyam Yadav, Tanya Srivastava, and Samir Fayis.
However, the legal victory was not absolute. The court denied bail to one accused, Ilakiya, signaling that the judiciary views her specific role in the alleged altercations with police staff as distinct from the others.
Defense and Prosecution
- Defense: Advocates Nizam Pasha and Subhash Chandran KR led the teams representing the students, arguing that the “Naxalite” tag was a draconian measure to suppress civic dissent.
- Prosecution: Additional Public Prosecutor Bhanu Pratap Singh represented the state, maintaining that the severity of the slogans and the assault on uniformed officers warranted continued detention.
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