Allahabad High Court grants bail to Kashmiri students booked for raising pro-Pakistan slogans during T-20

Three Kashmiri students, who were charged with sedition after raising pro-Pakistan slogans following Pakistan's victory in a T-20 Cricket World Cup match against India, have been granted bail by the Allahabad High Court, The Times of India reported..The accused students had moved the High Court seeking bail in December 2021 after the Agra District Bar Association passed a resolution refusing to represent their case. .The three students, Arsheed Yusuf, Inayat Altaf Sheikh and Showkat Ahmed Ganai, pursuing engineering at Agra, were arrested on October 27, 2021 by the Uttar Pradesh Police.All of them were charged under Sections 124 A (sedition), 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups), 505 (1)(B) (public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 66-F of the Information Technology Act..The three approached the Court, contending that there was no evidence against them and no offence was made out against them for sedition or promoting enmity between communities."For establishing the offence of sedition under Section 124A IPC, (it is necessary) to do acts which would bring the government established by law in India into hatred or contempt. In this case, there is not even a suggestion that the applicants did anything against the Government of India or Government of the State," the plea stated..The applicants had further contended that they did not raise any slogans against India or send any WhatsApp messages.The applicants placed reliance on the judgment in Kedar Nath Singh v. State of Bihar, to argue that their right to freedom of speech and expression was a fundamental right as guaranteed by the Constitution under Article 19(1)(a)..The plea had also highlighted how the lawyers at Agra Bar assaulted the accused during their remand and the Bar Association also passed a resolution not to provide any legal assistance to them."Some people and advocates of District Bar, Agra beat the applicants which is clear from a video recording and same shall be produced if required at the time of argument," the plea said.They further alleged that they were being threatened when they tried to contact lawyers from the Agra Bar.