Supreme Court grants bail to anti-CAA protesters of Mangaluru

The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted bail to 21 anti-CAA-NPR-NRC protesters who were allegedly involved in the agitation that resulted in police firing, causing the death of two persons in Mangaluru in December 2019.

A bench of Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian allowed an application filed by Ashik alias Mohammad Asik and others.

The petitioners were already granted bail by the Karnataka High Court on February 17. However, this order was stayed by the apex court on March 6.

On Wednesday, the court lifted its stay on the HC's order. It directed all the petitioners to report to the concerned police station every alternate Monday as a condition for their bail.

The petitioners, led by senior advocate R Basant and advocate Haris Beeran, contended that they were involved in peaceful protests only but the police resorted to the firing leading to the death of two persons.

They said they have been in custody for more than seven months since December 22, 2019, and the police have already filed its charge sheet, so they are not required for investigation any more.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Karnataka government, contended that the High Court's observations while granting bail to the accused should be expunged.

The court said the HC's observations should be treated for the purpose of bail only.