JOIN USDelhi riots: Court orders immediate release of 3 student activists from jail
A Delhi court on Thursday ordered release of Delhi riots accused Devangana Kalita, Natasha Narwal and Asif Iqbal Tanha, who were granted bail by Delhi high Court on June 15.
Kalita and Narwal, both PhD students from Jawaharlal Nehru University finally walked out of Tihar jail by the evening. Tanha was already out on custody parole to write his final year BA examinations of Jamia Milia Islamia University, New Delhi.
Additional Sessions Judge at Karkardooma Courts Revinder Bedi said the order was passed for releasing the accused and an intimation has been sent to Tihar jail authorities.
The court rejected a plea by the Delhi Police for more time to verify documents.
The court on Wednesday deferred the order as Delhi police, for their part, sought time for verification of the addressee of the surities.
On Thursday, the accused rushed to the High Court accusing Delhi police of delaying the matter.
A bench of Justices Sidharth Mridul and Anup J Bhambhani said, "We are not going to monitor the proceedings before the trial court. We can only say that it has to deal with the matter with promptitude. Our order has to be implemented, there cannot be two views on that."
All the three were arrested under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act in May, last year, in the riots case, triggered after protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act. The HC, however, no case was prima facie made out against them under the anti-terrror law. It had also made scathing remarks against the police.
On Wednesday, Delhi police had approached the Supreme Court challenging the June 15 order by the High Court granting bail to three student-activists in a case of larger conspiracy related to the northeast Delhi riots last year, which claimed lives of 53 people and left hundred others as injured.
The top court is scheduled to consider the matter on Friday.