Delhi court grants bail to 10 arrested for protesting at India Gate over air pollution

A Delhi court on Tuesday granted bail to 10 people arrested by the Delhi Police over allegations that they raised “anti-national” slogans near India Gate while protesting the rising air pollution in the city. 

Judicial Magistrate First Class Aridaman Singh Cheema of the Patiala House Courts granted bail to accused Aatreya Chaudhary, Prakash Kumar Gupta, Vishnu Tiwari, Shreshth Mukund, Banka Akash, Ahan Arun Upadhyay, Satyam Yadav, Tanya Srivastava and Samir Fayis.

Dealing with the bail plea of a student named Banka Akash, the Court noted that even though the Police had alleged that he was a member of a radical Naxalite organisation, nothing had been discovered regarding his membership with such a group.

“Perusal of the record reveals that the CCTV footages and video clips of the incident/protest are already available to investigating agency. The mobile phones of the accused has been seized b y the police. Nothing has been discovered against the accused qua the membership of Radical Organizations related to naxalites. No purpose shall be served by keeping the accused in the JC [Judicial Custody],” the Court said. 

However, the Court denied bail to one protester, Ilakiya.

The demonstrators had gathered on November 23 near India Gate to protest the city’s worsening pollution problem. 

However, the situation soon intensified. A total of 23 people, mostly students, were then arrested by the Delhi Police over allegations of assaulting and outraging the modesty of female police staff, using chilli spray on a constable and raising slogans for Naxalite Madvi Hidma, who was killed by security forces on November 18. 

It was the police’s case that the protesters were directed to conduct the demonstration at Jantar Mantar but they refused and blocked traffic and raised slogans like “Long Live Hidma” and “Red Salute to Hidma”. 

Senior Advocate Nizam Pasha with advocates Ahmad Ibrahim, Arif Ali, Jeet Chakraborty and Ayesha Zaidi appeared for accused Tanya Srivastava and Ilakiya.

Advocates Subhash Chandran KR, Krishna LR and Anirudh KP represented Banka Akash.

Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) Bhanu Pratap Singh represented the Delhi Police.