Student activists Kalita, Narwal and Tanha released from Tihar Jail

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 17

Two days after the Delhi High Court granted them bail in the Delhi riots conspiracy case, student activists Devangana Kalita, Natasha Narwal and Asif Iqbal Tanha were on Thursday released from Tihar Jail following an order of their “immediate release” by a Delhi court.

They were arrested in May 2020 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and were accused of being the "masterminds" of the February 2020 violence, which claimed 53 lives and left more than 200 injured.

As their release was delayed for verification of addresses of sureties, on Thursday they again moved the Delhi High Court which expressed displeasure over the delay and asked the trial court to proceed with the issue with "promptitude and expedition". 

In its order for the “immediate release” of the accused, the Delhi court said the delay in the verification process by the police could not be a plausible reason for the accused to be kept in jail after the grant of bail.

The Delhi Police have already moved the Supreme Court seeking reversal of the high court order granting bail to the trio on the ground that it held a “mini-trial” and read down the UAPA, which will have far-reaching consequences.

The petition – which also sought a stay on the Delhi High Court’s order is likely to be taken up for hearing by the top court on Friday. Holding that right to protest is a fundamental right which can't be termed as a ‘terrorist act’, the Delhi High Court had on Tuesday granted bail to the three student activists who faced charges under various provisions of the IPC and the UAPA.

The high court had said it was constrained to note that in its anxiety to suppress dissent and in the morbid fear that matters may get out of hand, “the State has blurred the line between the constitutionally guaranteed ‘right to protest’ and ‘terrorist activity’. If such blurring gains traction, democracy would be in peril.”

Terming as "somewhat vague" the definition of 'terrorist act' under the UAPA, the HC had cautioned against its use in a "cavalier manner".

"We are of the view that the foundations of our nation stand on surer footing than to be likely to be shaken by a protest, however vicious, organised by a tribe of college students or other persons, operating as a coordination committee from the confines of a University situate in the heart of Delhi," the HC had said.

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