Bombay HC Grants Interim Protection to Ex-TISS Student in GN Saibaba Event Case
The Bombay High Court on Friday granted interim protection from arrest to Kamakhya Prasad Das, a former student of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Trombay, in connection with a case involving an unauthorised campus event held last October to mark the death anniversary of former Delhi University professor GN Saibaba.
A single-judge bench of Justice Prafulla Khubalkar granted Das protection from arrest until August 31, when the matter will be heard next.
The case stems from an FIR registered at the Trombay police station based on a complaint filed by the TISS administration. Nine students were booked for unlawful assembly, promoting enmity between different groups, making imputations prejudicial to national integration, and provocation with intent to cause a riot. The investigation was subsequently transferred from the Trombay police to the Crime Investigation Department.
According to the prosecution, Das was among a group of students who organised the memorial for Saibaba on October 12 without permission from institute authorities. The prosecution alleged that students displayed photographs of Saibaba, lit candles, read his poems, and raised inflammatory slogans demanding the release of jailed activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam.
On August 7, a sessions court granted anticipatory bail to seven of the nine accused students. However, the court denied pre-arrest bail to Das and another student, Abhirup Paul, citing allegations that they possessed literature published by the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) and were not cooperating with the investigation.
Das approached the Bombay High Court on August 10 through advocates Vijay Hiremath and Rishika Agarwal, maintaining that the case against him was false. In his plea, Das stated that students read two poems authored by Saibaba to acknowledge his struggles as a person with disabilities who was incarcerated for years before being acquitted.
Das disputed claims that slogans were raised for Khalid and Imam, submitting that even if such slogans had been shouted, they did not constitute a criminal offence under Indian law. Addressing allegations regarding banned literature, the petition argued that downloading books did not establish authorship or affiliation with an outlawed organisation, describing the FIR as an attempt to suppress student voices.
