New Delhi, Dec 9 (PTI) A Delhi court on Tuesday granted bail to 10 protesters arrested in connection with a protest at Kartavya Path, where slogans were allegedly raised in support of slain Maoist commander
Madvi Hidma.
The court, which was hearing the bail pleas of 12 accused, however, declined the relief to one and adjourned the plea of another to Wednesday.
Judicial Magistrate Aridaman Singh Cheema granted bail to Ahan Arun Upadhyay, Sameer Faiyaz, Vishnu Tiwari, Satyam Yadav, Prakash Raj Gupta, Shreshth Mukund, Banka Akash, Aatreya Chaudhary, Tanya Shrivastav and Abhinash Satyapati on a bond of Rs 15,000 each.
The court noted that all digital evidence, from CCTV footage to video clips of the protest to the mobile phones of the accused, have been seized by police and is readily available to the investigating agency.
“Nothing has been discovered against the accused protesters qua their membership in radical organisations related to Naxalites,” the court said.
It, however, added that reasonable conditions had to be imposed to address any concerns regarding the accused absconding or tampering with evidence.
The court granted them bail, saying, “No purpose shall be served by keeping the accused in judicial custody.” The court, however, rejected the bail plea of K Sri Ilakkiya, saying, “The investigation is pending regarding the identification of other members of the Radical Students Union (RSU) who had conspired for transforming the protest of pollution into the support of Hidma, the facts and circumstances of the case, the gravity of the offence and in view of the involvement of the accused with the RSU, which is a banned organisation as a frontal organisation of Naxals.” It said granting bail at this stage could result in the accused informing other RSU members, who are yet to be identified, about the probe and causing them to abscond.
The bail plea of another accused, Akshay E R, has been adjourned on account of pending arguments and will now be taken up on Wednesday, when his counsel is expected to make submissions.
On November 23, a protest took place at the India Gate over rising air pollution in the national capital.
The protesters have been accused of raising controversial slogans and using pepper spray on the police personnel trying to contain them.
According to police, 23 protesters were arrested in two separate cases lodged at the Parliament Street and Kartavya Path police stations.
Seventeen protesters were held in connection with a scuffle at the Parliament Street police station, while six were arrested in the pepper-spray case.
Fifteen of the 17 accused in the Parliament Street case were rearrested in the Kartavya Path case.
Of the 17, nine were granted bail on November 28 by a different magistrate who was hearing the Parliament Street case, while the remaining eight secured bail on December 2. PTI MDB MNR RC
