Court rejects pre-arrest bail plea of student charged with sedition during pride meet

The sessions court on Wednesday rejected the anticipatory bail plea of 21-year-old trans-identified student, charged with sedition for raising slogans in support

The sessions court on Wednesday rejected the anticipatory bail plea of 21-year-old trans-identified student, charged with sedition for raising slogans in support of Sharjeel Imam who has also been booked for sedition, at the ‘Mumbai Pride Solidarity Gathering’ on February 1.

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The Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) student — whose name given at birth is Urvashi, but who uses the name Kris Chudawala — is among the 51 persons against whom the Mumbai Police registered by an FIR on former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Kirit Somaiya’s complaint on February 2. Chudawala had moved the court seeking anticipatory bail on Tuesday.

Sessions court judge Prashant Rajvaidya, while rejecting the anticipatory bail plea, observed: “The statement uttered by the student in support of Imam, prima facie attracts the ingredients of the charges of sedition under section 124 (a) of IPC, which attracts life imprisonment. The case is of serious nature and the accused and the custodial interrogator is required to reach the roots of the matter.”

The court also refused to give interim relief to Chudawala to approach the high court for protection against arrest.

Chudawala’s lawyer, Vijay Hiremath, argued that the charges of sedition cannot be applied on the student as the act does not fall under the definition of the same. “There has to be a call for violence. This applicant didn’t utter a word of violence. The applicant’s protest against Imam’s arrest may be wrong, but can’t be [charged with] sedition,” Hiremath said. Chudawala had contended that words had been taken out of context and that the prosecution has missed other names, like Rohith Vemula and Payal Tadvi, that were mentioned while raising slogans. Arguing for Chudawala, Hiremath said, “I [Chudawala] am being made an example in the city as various protests are going on and they want to show they are taking it seriously.”

The plea was opposed by the chief public prosecutor, Jaysingh Desai, representing Azad Maidan police. “Freedom of speech is not the issue. What is important is what you say. And who are you supporting?” Desai told the court, pointing out that Chudawala was supporting Imam, who was arrested by Delhi Police under charges of sedition and UAPA. The prosecution also presented Chudawala’s post supporting Imam. Desai said the student deleted all their posts after being booked. Hiremath, however, said Chudawala’s social media account had been disabled for now.