Delhi riots: Court orders immediate release of 3 student activists from jail

Two days after they were granted bail a Delhi court on Thursday ordered immediate release of three student activists in the northeast riots conspiracy case noting that delay in the verification process by the police cannot be a plausible reason for the accused to be kept imprisonedOrder on the release of Devangana Kalita Natasha Narwal and Asif Iqbal Tanha came two days after the Delhi High Court granted them bail in the caseThe trio was arrested last year under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act UAPAPulling up the police for delay in verification of addresses and sureties Additional Sessions Judge Revinder Bedi said ldquoI would say that this by itself cannot be a plausible reason for the accused to be kept imprisoned till the time such reports are filedrdquoTaking note of the undertaking given by the counsel of the accused that their client will not leave the jurisdiction of the national capital the court sent the warrant to the Superintendent of the Tihar Jail for their immediate releaseOn June 16 Delhi Police had moved an application seeking more time from the court to verify their addresses sureties and authenticity of the Aadhaar cards before releasing them on bailDismissing the police application the judge directed them to verify the addresses of the accused in Delhi and submit the report on Thursday itself by 5 PMReport on verification of their permanent address in other states has been called on June 23 by the courtFurthermore the court cited the high courts observation which stated that once the incarcerated have been ordered to be released on bail and furnished the bail bond with sureties they ought not to remain behind bars even for a minuteldquoIt was observed that the State should ensure the infrastructure necessary for such verification process within minimum possible time and there cannot be any reason sufficient enough to deny such a person his libertyrdquo the judge statedAfter securing bail the activists had moved the trial court seeking immediate release from jailWhen the trial court deferred the order on their plea for Thursday they moved the Delhi High Court which ordered the lower court to proceed with the issue with ldquopromptitude and expeditionrdquoThe three student activists were arrested in May 2020 and are accused of being the lsquomastermindsrsquo of the February 2020 violence which had left 53 people dead and more than 200 injuredThe high court while granting them bail on June 15 had observed that ldquoin an anxiety to suppress dissent the State has blurred the line between right to protest and terrorist activityrdquo and if such a mindset gains traction it would be a sad day for democracyMeanwhile the Delhi Police has moved the Supreme Court challenging the high court judgments granting them bail in the caseThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever