A Delhi court on Saturday ordered immediate release of fourteen students from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) who were granted bail in a case related to violence at a protest.
The authorities had not released them from jail because their permanent addresses had not yet been verified.
Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) Ravi of the Patiala House Court observed that if outstation verification is permitted to dictate continued incarceration without outer limits or alternate safeguards, the grant of bail may effectively become illusory for all outstation students and undertrials.
The students ordered to be released from jail include JNU Students Union (JNUSU) President Aditi Mishra, vice-president Gopika K Babu, joint secretary Danish Ali and All India Students Association (AISA) president Neha.
They were arrested after attempting to march towards the Education Ministry as part of the ongoing protests against JNU Vice-Chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit's recent remarks on a podcast regarding the implementation of UGC norms and other grievances.
Police blocked the heavily barricaded campus gates, leading to clashes in which students and officers were injured.
The students were granted bail on February 27, but the court had said that they should be released after verification of their permanent addresses because many of them had concealed or misstated their identity and had not nominated any family member or friend for information of arrest.
Judge Ravi on Sunday said that once the Court has reached a "considered conclusion that the accused deserve bail on merits, the verification of their addresses and surety bonds, though important, is essentially a step to secure the efficacy of the bail order and to ensure future presence and compliance with conditions”.
“It is procedural in nature and cannot be allowed to operate in such a manner that the accused continue to remain in custody for an unduly long period for reasons not attributable to them, particularly where they have already furnished bail bonds and are willing to submit to additional safeguards,” the Court added.
Therefore, it modified the bail conditions in the February 27 order and directed the release of the students said that verification of their addresses will not operate as a pre-condition for their release.
Advocates Abhik Chimni, Pranjal Abrol, Moksha Sharma, Sneha P Mandal, Sidharth Tulsi Ganeshan and Ayush Shrivastava appeared for the JNU students.
Advocate Kartikey Sharma represented the Delhi Police.
[Read Order]