Former TISS Student Moves Bombay High Court for Anticipatory Bail
A former Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) student, Kamakhya Das, has moved the Bombay High Court seeking anticipatory bail in connection with a case registered over alleged inflammatory slogans raised at an unauthorised campus gathering in Trombay, Mumbai.
The case stems from an event held near a campus hostel without permission to mark the first death anniversary of former Delhi University professor G N Saibaba. The first information report (FIR), initially registered at the Trombay police station and subsequently transferred to the Crime Branch, alleged that around 10 to 12 students gathered to pay tribute by lighting candles, reading poems, and raising slogans.
According to the prosecution, the slogans raised during the gathering included demands for the release of jailed activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, who are both accused under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
Das approached the High Court after a Mumbai sessions court rejected his anticipatory bail application. Following an urgent mention of the matter, Justice Prafulla Khubalkar agreed to hear the petition on Friday.
The sessions court had previously granted anticipatory bail to seven other accused persons in the case, noting that the allegations against them were limited and custodial interrogation was not required. However, the court denied pre-arrest bail to Das and another accused, observing that the allegations against them were of a more serious nature.
In denying relief to Das, the sessions court noted that books published by CPI (Maoist) members were discovered on his electronic devices and that certain information had been deleted. The prosecution further argued that he had not cooperated with the ongoing investigation.
In his plea before the High Court, the 24-year-old Development Studies graduate denied all allegations of wrongdoing, describing them as untrue and completely unreliable. Das asserted that no inflammatory slogans were raised by any student and argued that offences relating to unlawful assembly and promoting enmity between groups were not made out.
Das contended that merely possessing or reading literature associated with a particular ideology does not constitute a criminal offence. He also maintained that he has fully cooperated with the probe, stating that investigators questioned him for 12 to 15 hours over a period of 10 months, rendering custodial interrogation unnecessary.
