[BREAKING] "Against secularism:" Delhi Court rejects bail plea of three accused in Jantar Mantar anti-muslim sloganeering

A Delhi Court has rejected the bail applications of three accused persons booked under Section 153A (provocation with intent to cause riot) in the Jantar Mantar communal sloganeering incident in which calls were made for killing of Muslims..The Court found that the sloganeering by two of the applicants as seen in a video clipping was against the values of secularism imbibed in the Indian Constitution.“In one of the clippings, applicant/accused, as identified by the IO in the video clipping, can be seen with the other accused Deepak Singh, who in one of the video clippings has made scathing remarks which are undemocratic and uncalled for from a citizen of this country where principles like Secularism hold the value of basic feature imbibed in the Constitution. Freedom to express oneself is indeed allowed to be enjoyed by the citizens to the fullest possible extent, yet with every right there is a corresponding duty attached," the order said..Metropolitan Magistrate Udbhav Kumar Jain observed that the investigation against the applicants Preet Singh, Deepak Singh and Vinod Sharma is at a nascent stage and considering the facts as well as the nature of allegations levelled against the three, the Court was not inclined to allow the application at this stage..The Investigating Officer vehemently opposed the bail plea submitting that release of applicants could be prejudicial in maintaining public tranquility and would further create a serious law and order situation and that there were chances that the applicants would create communal disharmony..On the other hand, the counsel for the accused contended that they were not even present at the time of the alleged incident. Further, they sought bail on the ground of parity since other accused allegedly involved in the incident, were granted bail..However, the Court found that on prima facie perusal of the material available on record including the video footage, the accused do not deserve bail..Further, on the contention of parity, the present applicants were on a different footing from the other accused persons who were granted bail, the Court opined..The applicants were allegedly part of a rally that took place on August 8 in Delhi under the Bharat Jodo Movement against colonial-era laws in the country where anti-Muslim slogans were said to be raised.The rally was organised by former BJP spokesperson and Supreme Court lawyer, Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay.Upadhyay along with 5 others were later arrested. Upadhyay, however, denied any links to slogan raising stating that he had left the venue at 12 in the afternoon while slogans were raised by unknown miscreants at 5 pm..A Delhi court had, on Wednesday granted bail to Upadhyay..[Read Order]