New Delhi: A court Tuesday granted bail to all 13 remaining protesters arrested Monday from Parliament Street for protesting and allegedly getting into an altercation with a CISF staffer, observing that they had already been granted bail by the duty judge and the “limited purpose” of their remand had been completed.
Police had sought an 11-day extension of their custody, a plea opposed by advocate Saimon Farooqui, who argued that the protesters were arrested selectively. He further submits that he does not have any friend as he does not believe in making any friend and his father has also passed away,” the court noted, directing his release on a personal bond and allowing 15 days to furnish a surety.
Rejecting the plea, Bhardwaj said the accused were “of young age and are not habitual offenders”. On Monday night, duty JMFC Animesh Kumar granted bail to four others, noting that though the offence of assaulting a police officer was a heinous offence, the accused “have their entire career lying ahead”. Among those arrested, a 21-year-old, who called himself “Sunny Deol”, was alleged by police to have been non-cooperative. He told the court that he had no family member or friend to nominate to receive information about his arrest. Accused Dharmender and Samarth Singh alleged they were beaten inside Parliament Street police station, while Sheikh Yunus submitted that he was injured as “he was pushed during the protest”. Kumar then sought a report from the DCP, New Delhi, and directed preservation of the “relevant CCTV footage of PS Parliament Street”.
Judicial magistrate first class (JMFC) Kautuk Bhardwaj noted, “Once the bail (by duty judge) had been granted, there can be no question of extension of the judicial custody remand at the instance of the IO. The arrests were made during a protest demanding the resignation of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The rest were remanded in one day of judicial custody to complete medical and other formalities. “He submits that his mother does not use any mobile phone and he has estranged relationship with his brother. The court also took note of injuries allegedly sustained by some accused.