Farmers Movement Archive

Amit Shah on Disha Ravi: Age, gender not relevant in assessing culpability

NEW DELHI: Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday strongly defended Delhi Police’s action in the Disha Ravi case, saying the arrest of the climate activist in the “toolkit” investigation had been explained by police and factors such as age, gender and profession could not be relevant in assessing culpability in a crime. The minister said the nature of a crime case should not be judged on extraneous factors, even as he refused to elaborate on the “merits” of the investigation, which he said was being handled “meticulously” by Delhi Police. “Kya gender, age, profession pooch kar gunah tay hoga? (Will a crime or culpability be decided on the basis of gender, age and profession),” Shah asked in response to questions being raised on Ravi’s arrest. Read AlsoSeveral legal eagles question sedition charge against Disha RaviMUMBAI/ DELHI: Legal experts on Monday questioned the invoking of the sedition law in the Disha Ravi case, saying Delhi Police had ‘over-reacted’ and the 22-year-old climate activist’s arrest was ‘unwarranted’. Former chief justice of Bombay high court Pradeep Nandrajogsaid the purpose of using “Delhi Police have been given a free hand to deal with the case… there is no political pressure on them and they have the freedom to act as per the law, therefore, I will not speak about the merits of the case,” Shah said in comments to Times Now and ABP News. Read AlsoDisha Ravi panicked when Greta Thunberg leaked toolkit, say policeDelhi Police on Monday claimed that arrested climate activist Disha Ravi had panicked when Greta Thunberg accidentally leaked the toolkit on the farm protests and asked her to refrain from saying anything on it. Disha wanted to consult a lawyer fearing that the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act“Do you ask the age of someone who commits a crime?” he added, apparently responding to the focus on the activist’s age and environmental activism.H ome minister Amit Shah said there was little scope of error by Delhi Police but there was an option to approach the courts for quashing the case. “One should approach the court and seek remedy if he or she feels that there is no evidence,” he said. Read AlsoDisha Ravi arrest: Followed norms, no leniency on basis of age, says policeDelhi Police commissioner S N Shrivastava on Tuesday said all procedures laid down in the law were followed during the arrest of Disha Ravi from Bengaluru. Shrivastava told mediapersons that law does not differentiate on the basis of age. “Law does not differentiate between a 22-year-old and aShah said raising questions against the arrest was easy but who would accept responsibility in case something untoward happened. “What kind of trend is this that people start talking about profession, association and age in terms of a case?” he asked and also criticised media reports questioning why just one 22-year-old was singled out. Read AlsoFarmers Protests: Demonstrations held across country condemning Disha Ravi's arrestNEW DELHI: Farmers have been protesting against the three new farm laws since November 2020, however, since January 26 violence that took place during the tractor rally, controversies have overshadowed the farm agitation. At the centre of the controversy is a toolkit, which came on Delhi Police“There might be many other 22- year-olds who would have been arrested,” he said. He added, “There must be some evidence on which Delhi Police has taken action.” “Delhi Police is acting as per the law. It has already given details of the IPC Sections which have been used in the case. It has explained the case and the sections in detail for the people,” he said, adding that he was not in a position to prevent people from speaking on the issue with a political motive. Delhi Police commissioner S N Shrivastava had said that Disha Ravi’s arrest was made in accordance with the law.

The Times of India

2021-02-19

India