While granting bail, the judge called the evidence produced against Disha Ravi “scanty and sketchy.”
On Tuesday, a Delhi court granted bail to climate activist Disha Ravi who was arrested in connection with the toolkit case. Ravi was granted bail after she spent 10 days in police custody after being arrested from Bengaluru on February 13.
While granting bail to Ravi, Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana said: “Considering the scanty and sketchy evidence on record, I do not find any palpable reason to breach the general rule of bail against a 22-year-old young lady, with absolutely blemish-free criminal antecedents and firm roots in the society, and send her to jail.”
As we have reported earlier, the police have accused Disha Ravi, Nikta Jacob, and Shantanu Muluk of collaborating with a pro-Khalistani group named Poetic Justice Foundation (PJF) for creating the “toolkit” that has alleged links to the January 26, Republic Day tractor rally violence. Muluk and Jacob are currently on transit bail.
The court also highlighted that there are no links established on record between Ravi and banned outfit Sikhs for Justice. The judge also said that “there is not even an iota of evidence” connecting those who had acted violently on Republic Day tractor rally violence to Ravi or the PFJ.
The court noted that the creation of a WhatsApp group or being editor of an innocuous toolkit is not an offense. The court said: “Since the link with the said toolkit or PJF has not been found to be objectionable, mere deletion of the WhatsApp chat to destroy the evidence linking her with the toolkit and PJF, also becomes meaningless.”
“Difference of opinion, disagreement, divergence, dissent, or for that matter, even disapprobation, is recognized as legitimate tools to infuse objectivity in state policies. An aware and assertive citizenry, in contradistinction with an indifferent or docile citizenry, is indisputably a sign of a healthy and vibrant democracy,” said the court.
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