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Right to protest can't be termed as 'terrorist act': Delhi HC

NEW DELHI: Granting bail to three student activists arrested for allegedly instigating the February 2020 Delhi riots, the Delhi high court said that peacefully protest without arms is a fundamental right under Article 19(1)(b) of the Constitution and has not been outlawed yet and cannot be termed as a 'terrorist act'.

A bench of justices Siddharth Mridul and Anup J Bhambhani held that the foundations of this nation stood on surer footing than those likely to be shaken by a protest, however vicious, organised by college students who operated from the confines of a university.

The observations of the court were made while granting bail to Jawaharlal Nehru University student Devangana Kalita in a case related to the communal violence in north east Delhi during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act.

The high court, by separate judgements, also granted bail to another JNU student Natasha Narwal and Jamia Millia Islamia student Asif Iqbal Tanha in the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) case.

In separate orders, with similar observations, the court noted that the charges levied against the three by the Delhi police, do not show that they committed any crime under the anti-terror law UAPA.

The high court said the intent and purpose of parliament in enacting the UAPA which was amended in 2004 and 2008 was to be applied in matters of profound impact on the 'Defence of India', nothing more and nothing less.

Communal riots broke out in north east Delhi in February 2020, leaving 53 people dead and over 400 injured. Over 750 FIRs were filed in connection to the riots and several people were arrested. In September 2020, the police filed its first charge sheet running into 17,500 pages charging 15 accused of allegedly hatching a conspiracy to orchestrate riots. 

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