While granting bail to student activists Natasha Narwal, Devangana Kalita and Asif Iqbal Tanha in the same case, the Delhi High Court found the police had not made out a prima facie case of a terrorist act, and the use of “superfluous verbiage, hyperbole and stretched inferences”, did not make it one. Furthermore, the division bench of Justice Mridul Siddharth and Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani asked whether the crimes alleged threatened the defence of India, warranting invoking of UAPA, observing that in its “anxiety to suppress dissent,” the state was blurring the lines between the right to protest and terrorist activity. Narwal, Kalita, Tanha, and Safoora Zargar, have received bail from the Delhi High Court, and Ishrat Jahan from the lower court, others charged under the UAPA, Khalid, Gulfisha Fatima, Khalid Saifi, Shifa-ur-Rehman, Sharjeel Imam, and Meeran Haider, have had their bail rejected by the lower court.
Betwa Sharma, ‘Talkative, Evolving & Never Missing A ‘Mulakat’: Umar Khalid After 2 Years In Prison’, Article 14
