courtesy: livelaw.in
On Friday, the Supreme Court said that the decision on the bail for Asif Iqbal Tanha, Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita has “pan-India ramifications,” they were released on Thursday night after spending over an year in jail for the alleged links to the violence caused in North-East Delhi in 2020.
The SC said that the issue had pan-India ramifications and so the SC would like to issue a notice and decide over the matter for the good of the country.
They also issued a notice on the Delhi police appeal challenging the remarks made by the Delhi HC while granting the bail to the three student activists.
The SC held that the order would not be treated as a precedent and same would be not relied upon by any parties in the case. Before the proceedings of the court.
The SC mentioned that it has not interfered with the bail granted to the three students accused at this stage, but the matter will be taken up after July 19.
On Thursday, the Delhi HC bench comprised of Justices Siddharth Mridul and AJ Bhambhani, had passed the release orders for Natasha and Devangana of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and Asif Iqbal of Jamia Millia Islamia. The three students were granted bail on Tuesday by the Delhi HC in regard of the riots. In the bail order of Tuesday, the Delhi HC had mentioned that the allegations against the three students do not prima facie disclose the commission of any offence under the sections of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
The court had also ruled that the additional restrictions on the grant of bail are not applicable. The court also said that the line in between a terrorist activity and the constitutional guaranteed right to protest was getting somewhat blurred in the mind of the state, in its anxiety to suppress dissent.