‘It is a big victory and a matter of celebration for the citizens of the country’
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI – Lauding the Delhi High Court for granting bail to anti-CAA activists, noted human rights activist Teesta Setalvad on Wednesday said the bail order has actually debunked the conspiracy theory presented by the Delhi Police in the riots case.
After the judgment was reported on Tuesday, Setalvad went live on Twitter and Facebook page of its rights group Citizen for Justice and Peace (CJP) and analysed the court order.
“They have actually looked at Section 15, 16 and 18 of the UAPA, evaluated with the merits of conspiracy theory put forward by the Central government, ministry of home affairs and Delhi police which is direct under the Home Ministry and debunked the entire conspiracy theory in the charge sheet,” said Setalvad.
LIVE: Delhi Violence case; Bail for student activists, a huge victory in a #uapa case. https://t.co/y08H0Ffcox
— Citizens for Justice and Peace (@cjpindia) June 15, 2021
Observing that there is no evidence against the accused for inciting violence or terror activities, a bench of Justices Sidharth Mridul and Anup Jairam Bhambhani on Tuesday granted bail to Asif Iqbal Tanha, Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal held in the Delhi riots conspiracy case.
The bail orders are being seen as a significant development in the case where Delhi Police have invoked stringent anti-terror law UAPA accusing them of hatching a conspiracy and creating roadblocks during the mass protests against Citizenship Amendment Act in northeast Delhi. The clash of pro-CAA mob with anti-CAA protests raked up anti-Muslim communal violence killing 53 people in February 2020.
In its live programme, Setalvad highlighted significant parts of the High Court judgment and said that it is a big victory and a matter of celebration for the citizens of the country. “The High Court has brought an amazing breath of freedom and sense of hope but we know there are miles to go,” she said.
She said that three bright students from Jamia Millia Islamia and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) were incarcerated under brutal UAPA for their spirit of dissent and protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizenship (NRC). She said that these protests were forced to call off after the government vilified the protesters.
Quoting the part of the judgment where the court observed that the line between right to protest and terror activities being blurred by the state, Setalvad said that the court has actually upheld the constitutional right to protest.
“In its anxiety to suppress dissent, in the mind of the State, the line between constitutionally guaranteed right to protest and terrorist activity seems to be getting somewhat blurred. If this mindset gains traction, it would be a sad day for democracy,” Setalvad quoted from the judgment and lauded: “There is no doubt it’s a path-breaking judgment. This is a very very important judgment,”.
She pointed out that there are many anti-CAA protesters and others who are still in jail and hoped that this judgment will set precedent that anti-terror laws like UAPA and Sedition are not misused. She also pointed out that bad laws like UAPA, Sedition, TADA, POTA and others have always been used to stifle dissent and protests by all regimes. But this regime is far ahead in misusing them.
