The High Court has asked the police to submit its status report in connection with a plea filed by Pinjra Tod activist Devangana Kalita, seeking bail on a case related to the communal violence in north-east Delhi.
Justice Suresh Kumar Kait ordered the police to also serve a copy of the status report to the counsel for Ms. Kalita beforehand while posting the bail hearing for August 21. “Status report is stated to have been filed, however, the same is not on record. Counsel for the State shall ensure that the status report to be placed on record before the next date of hearing with advance copy to the other side,” the court’s order reads.
Ms. Kalita has challenged a trial court’s order, which had dismissed her bail application. The plea was rejected on June 14 on the ground that there was no merit in the application and that it was amply clear from the chargesheet that the investigation was still pending and it has been filed against other accused persons also.
The trial court further said considering the investigation so far and the nature of the offence and the role being ascribed to the accused, there were no reasons at all to grant bail. Ms. Kalita is currently facing four different FIRs connected with the anti-CAA protests in Jaffrabad, north-east Delhi riots and violence in Daryaganj during a protest against the new citizenship law last year
Ms. Kalita was first arrested on May 23, along with fellow JNU student Natasha Narwal in relation with an FIR registered on February 24 over the sit-in protest at Jaffrabad metro station against the CAA. The police also invoked sections of the stringent anti-terror law — Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act — in a separate case related to the communal violence against Ms. Kalita.