Farmers Movement Archive

R-Day violence: 2 accused of attacking policemen get bail

A Delhi court on Thursday granted bail to two men who allegedly attacked policemen during the violence that unfolded at the Red Fort during the farmers’ protest rally on Republic Day this year.Additional sessions judge Kamini Lau granted bail to accused Boota Singh and Maninder Singh on furnishing a personal bond to the tune of ₹50,000 with one local surety of like amount.On January 26, farmers protesting against the Centre’s three farm laws clashed with police after the tractor rally planned by them diverted from the designated route and stormed into the Red Fort. They hoisted a religious flag and that of the farmers’ union on its domes and injured scores of policemen.According to police, Boota attacked police personnel and ransacked the Red Fort. Maninder brandished two swords on the ramparts of the monument and attacked policemen on duty. Granting relief, the judge said Maninder’s face is not clear in the photographs and videos relied upon by the prosecution in the case. In Boota’s case, the court said the videos and photographs only show his presence at Red Fort and that there is no material on record to show that the accused was involved in any kind of violence or was attacking the police. Lau also observed that the investigating officer is not sure as to whether the act of carrying a ‘talwar’ (sword) or ‘pharsa’ (battleaxe) by Sikhs and Nihangs is prohibited or that the presence of the accused at the Red Fort is a grave offence.The judge also relied upon the observations in the bail order passed by the Delhi High Court in the UAPA case filed against student activists Natasha Narwal, Devangana Kalita, and Asif Iqbal Tanha.“Delhi High Court observed that at a time when the society is polarized and fractured across various lines and ideology reaching a vanishing point, the Court will do all within its mandate to prevent the misuse of the law and alleviate the anxiety which has come to surround these individuals,” the judge noted.Additional public prosecutor Pankaj Bhatia, representing the police, told the court that the case is very sensitive in nature and that the accused should not be granted bail. Advocates Jaspreet Singh Rai and Jagdeep S Dhillon, representing the accused, told the court their clients were being falsely implicated in the case and had no role in the violence.

Hindustan Times

08-07-2021

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