Neha Bora to explore legal options after Delhi HC rejects plea against peace bond

The student activist Neha Bora will have to explore further legal options after the Delhi High Court dismissed her petition challenging a magistrate’s direction to furnish a bond to maintain peace, thereby allowing the proceedings initiated against her to continue.

Bora, president of the All-India Students’ Association (AISA), was detained on October 16 while participating in a flash protest near Barakhamba Road in Delhi, where students demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. She alleged that she was taken to an undisclosed location before being moved to the RK Puram Police Station, where she was held overnight and released at 6 am the following morning.

The special executive magistrate, in a notice issued on October 17, directed Bora to furnish a personal bond of Rs 10,000, along with a surety, to maintain peace during the pendency of an inquiry.

Dismissing her challenge on Friday, Justice Subramonium Prasad observed that adequate safeguards were in place, while directing the magistrate to provide Bora with all relevant materials before passing any order in the inquiry, according to Live Law.

The notice invoked Sections 126 and 130, read with Section 135(3), of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), which empower magistrates to initiate proceedings against individuals suspected of posing a threat to public peace and, in certain circumstances, require them to furnish bonds while an inquiry remains pending.

The authorities cited allegations that Bora had raised slogans at Mandi House, repeatedly protested near Jantar Mantar despite prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the BNSS, and instigated people to join a demonstration at Connaught Place.

Bora, however, challenged the legal basis of the notice, arguing that no material had been disclosed to establish a likelihood of a breach of peace or identify a specific occasion when such a disturbance was anticipated. She also disputed the allegation concerning Connaught Place, maintaining that she had called for a peaceful gathering at Mandi House at 5 pm on October 16, from where she was detained.

Protests against Kumar have taken place in Delhi and elsewhere since October 2, amid concerns over the Election Commission’s functioning and its handling of the special intensive revision of electoral rolls.