Patiala House Court Orders Immediate Release Of 14 JNU Students After Bail Row

New Delhi: Patiala House Court on Sunday ordered the release of 14 Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students, after they were granted bail in connection with a protest held at the university campus. 

The students were granted bail on February 27. However, they were sent in judicial custody and were subjected to verification of their permanent addresses. 

Duty Magistrate Ravi ordered the release of all these students after hearing an application moved on behalf of the students and directed the Delhi police to file a verification report of addresses within 10 days. 

A case had been registered at Vasant Kunj North Police Station. It has been alleged that the student protestors broke the barricades at the campus, meant to prevent the protestors from going outside. It was also alleged that 27 policemen were injured during the incident. 

During the hearing, it was argued that it is a violation of the law if the accused is kept in custody after the bail is granted and that the verification can be done even after their release. 

Advocates Abhik Chimni, Pranjal Abrol, Moksha Sharma and Siddharth Tulsi Ganeshan appeared for the accused persons. 

An application was moved before the concerned court seeking the release of students. However, the court had listed the matter before a magistrate on Sunday. 

On February 27, Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) Animesh Kumar granted bail to the accused students on a bail bond of Rs 25000 and a surety bond in the same amount. 

The court had granted bail to them, subject to verification of the permanent address of the accused persons, as they were reluctant to disclose their addresses. 

The court had remanded all the accsued persons in 14 days of judicial custody till March 13. Notably, the accsued persons have not furnished the bail bond. 

Advocate Deeksha Dwivedi appeared for the accused Ranvijay Singh. It was submitted that there are no specific allegations against any of the accused persons. 

"They are well-educated persons and are students. They were confined inside their campus by the police officers without any prohibitory order, as police barricades were installed right at the gate of the University," the advocate argued. 

It was further submitted that no notices were served upon the accused persons before their arrest. "They were peacefully protesting against the UGC Regulation and the comments made by the Vice Chancellor of the University. They only tried to exit from the University and did not resort to any kind of violence." 

While seeking their judicial custody, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Vasant Kunj submitted that the accused persons have been protesting and have also used force on previous occasions, due to which 4 different FIRs have been registered. 

He also submitted that the accused were not holding a peaceful protest, but had rather "resorted to violence." 

"They had also tried to conduct a march of around 300-350 persons towards India Gate without taking any permission. When police barricades were installed and when he tried to explain to the students about the law and order situation, the accused persons resorted to violence," the ACP alleged. 

It was also submitted that notices were issued to the detainees in the present case, but they even refused to disclose their actual names, details and phone numbers. 

The ACP further stated that there is a strong likelihood that the accused persons will again resort to violence. Therefore, they were sent to judicial custody. 

While granting bail, the court noted that the allegations are serious, and around 27 police officials have sustained injuries and that the accused persons have been protesting for a long time, and other FIRs have also been registered against them. 

"Assaulting police officials on duty is a serious concern which cannot be permitted in the garb of peaceful protest," JMFC Animesh Kumar observed, adding that, "however, it cannot be ignored that offences involved in the present case are punishable with maximum imprisonment of 5 years only." 

The court said that the accused persons are students and are not habitual offenders. 

"They have their entire career lying ahead. Therefore, considering the facts and circumstances of the case, the accused persons are admitted to bail in the sum of Rs. 25,000 with one surety of like amount, subject to the conditions," the Judge stated. 

Speaking on the matter, N Sai Balaji, President of All India Students Association & former JNUSU President, lauded the court's order and asserted that when the order reached Tihar Jail, "all the students will be released overnight." 

He told ANI, "The demand we made before the magistrate was that the precondition you imposed regarding permanent address verification is unjust because you were the one who granted bail... Today, our lawyer Abhik Chimni, Aayush Shrivastava, and the rest of the legal team presented the same arguments before another duty magistrate... The court said that there's no need to keep them in jail because of that precondition. All 14 students should be released immediately, and as soon as the order reaches Tihar, all the students will be released overnight."