Bombay HC grants anticipatory bail to student charged with Sedition for alleged pro-Sharjeel Imam slogan at pride rally

In yet another sedition case relating to Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests, the Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted anticipatory bail to a student charged under Section 124A IPC..Urvashi Chudawala, a 22-year-old student of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), was charged with sedition by the Mumbai Police for allegedly raising a slogan in support of Sharjeel Imam at an LGBTQ rally held in the city.Apprehending arrest by the police, Chudawala had filed an anticipatory bail plea before the Bombay High Court..Bombay HC to hear anticipatory bail plea of student charged with sedition for supporting Sharjeel Imam at LGBTQ rally .In an order passed on Tuesday, a Single Judge Bench of Justice Sandeep K Shinde held that in the event of her arrest, Chudawala would be released on a bond of Rs. 20,000 along with one or two sureties of a similar amount..Chudwala is also required to report to the Investigating Officer on Wednesday and Thursday, between 11 am to 2 pm. She has also been ordered to furnish all particulars of her residential address, including contact details, to the Investigating Officer..The Court has also directed Chudwala to co-operate with the investigation and has ordered her not to leave the city limits without the permission of the Court.The order also notes that Chudwala has undertaken to hand over the handset of her dual sim card to the IO on Wednesday..The Mumbai Police had booked Chudwala on charges of sedition for allegedly raising a slogan in support of JNU student Sharjeel Imam. She was among the 51 people against whom an FIR was filed on Monday last week..According to the FIR, the slogan, “Sharjeel tere sapno ko, hum manzil tak pahuchaenge" (Sharjeel, we will fulfill your dreams) was raised during the gathering..In her application filed before the High Court, Chudawala claimed that the entire case is based on the material or a video which is already in the custody of the police, and thus no case for custodial interrogation is made..Moreover, Chudawala had submitted that the Azad Maidan Police Station personnel have been erroneously and falsely trying to implicate and frame her in the present case and that she is a well qualified person having no criminal antecedents in the past..The Sessions Court had earlier refused to grant Chudawala anticipatory bail, prompting her to approach the Bombay High Court.She was represented by Advocate Vijay Hiremath.[Read the order]