New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday granted bail to activists, ‘Pinjra Tod’ (a women rights group) members Natasha Narwal, Devangana Kalita, and Jamia Millia Islamia student Asif Iqbal Tanha, who were arrested under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in connection with a case related to larger conspiracy in the north east Delhi riots in February 2020.
A bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Anup Jairam Bhambhani set aside the trial court’s orders denying bail to the three accused and allowed their appeals by admitting them to regular bail. The high court directed Pinjra Tod activists Narwal and Kalita and Tanha to surrender their passports and not to offer any inducement to prosecution witnesses or tamper with the evidence in the case. They were arrested in May last year in connection with the riots.
During the hearing, the bench said that the government needs to understand “the line between constitutionally guaranteed right to protest and terrorist activity”.
“It seems that in its anxiety to suppress dissent, in the mind of the State, the line between constitutionally guaranteed right to protest and terrorist activity seems to be getting somewhat blurred. If this mindset gains traction, it would be a sad day for democracy,” LIVE Law quoted the bench as stating.
Communal clashes had broken out in northeast Delhi on February 24 last year after violence between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiraled out of control leaving at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured.