Bail to student activists in riots case: Delhi Police challenges HC order in Supreme Court

NEW DELHI: Delhi Police on Wednesday challenged three separate judgements of the Delhi high court granting bail to three student activists in the 2020 Delhi riots case.
The special leave petition has been filed by the police against the high court order that granted bail to Jamia Millia Islamia student Asif Iqbal Tanha and JNU students Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal.
The three activists were charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in connection to the riots that burned the northeast region of the capital in February last year.
A bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Anup Jairam Bhambhani on Tuesday set aside the trial court's orders denying bail to the Pinjra Tod activists who were arrested in May 2020.

The bench had directed the three activists to surrender their passports and not to offer any inducement to prosecution witnesses or tamper with the evidence in the case.
Granting bail, the high court had observed that the state in its "anxiety to suppress dissent" blurred the line between the constitutionally guaranteed right to protest and terrorist activity.
"If such blurring gains traction, democracy would be in peril," said the bench.
Kalita, Narwal and Tanha are accused in four, three and two cases respectively relating to communal riots that broke out on February 24 last year and will be released from jail now as they have already secured bail in other matters.