New Delhi: A Delhi court on Tuesday granted bail to eight protesters arrested in connection with a scuffle with police outside the Parliament Street Police Station. Police had initially arrested 17 people in the case. Nine of them were granted bail on November 28, while the remaining eight received relief today.
Judicial Magistrate First Class Sahil Monga granted bail to the eight accused on a bond of Rs 20,000 each.
During the hearing, the additional public prosecutor opposed the bail plea, arguing that more time was required to “uncover the conspiracy” behind political slogans praising Madvi Hidma and to trace the alleged source of funding for the students, who were said to possess expensive phones and had previously travelled to Hyderabad for a conference organised by the banned Radical Students' Union.
Counsel representing the protesters contended that the students were young, academically accomplished, and had no criminal history.
In the bail order dated December 2, the court noted that a substantial part of the objections raised by the investigating officer pertained not to the Parliament Street case but to the Kartavya Path case, which involves allegations of pepper spray being used on police personnel.
“These aspects pertain to a different incident and cannot be a ground to oppose bail in the present FIR,” the order stated. It added that concerns over absconding or tampering with evidence could be addressed through appropriate conditions. The court also observed that further custodial detention was unnecessary, as the investigating officer had not sought police custody and the investigation did not appear to require incarceration.
In total, 23 protesters were arrested—one case registered each at the Parliament Street and Kartavya Path police stations. Seventeen were arrested over the scuffle at the Parliament Street Police Station, and six were taken into custody in the Kartavya Path case involving the alleged use of pepper spray at India Gate. Of the 17 arrested in the Parliament Street case, 15 were subsequently re-arrested in the Kartavya Path case.
With PTI inputs