Delhi court orders immediate release of 14 JNU students given bail last week

A Delhi court ordered the release of 14 students granted bail after protests at JNU, emphasizing their right to liberty and academic futures.

A Delhi court on Sunday ordered the immediate release of 14 students who were granted bail on Friday in connection with the violence during Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) protests last week.

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Judicial Magistrate (First Class) Ravi of Patiala House Courts noted that the right to liberty needs to be balanced with legitimate interests of the state.

The students were arrested on Thursday following violence near the main entrance of the university during a protest organised by the JNUSU from the campus to the ministry of education, demanding the vice-chancellor’s resignation over her alleged caste-related remarks in a recent podcast interview.

Of the 51 students detained during the protest, 14 were arrested, including three JNUSU office bearers.

While granting bail to the students, judicial magistrate Animesh Kumar had observed that while assaulting police personnel was a serious offence, the accused were students with their careers ahead of them.

However, verification of the permanent addresses of the students was one of the pre-conditions for their release. The court had reasoned the non-disclosure of addresses by some of the students as grounds for the same.

But as most students have their permanent addresses across the country, verification process became tedious, which could lead to a delay in their release despite being granted bail, their lawyers claimed. Further, since bail bonds were not furnished, the students were inevitably sent to a 14-day judicial custody.

The counsels subsequently moved an application before court, seeking their immediate release without insisting on prior verification of their permanent address.

Their counsels, led by advocate Abhik Chimni and Sidharth Ganeshan, argued that the accused could not be kept behind bars indefinitely only because the police machinery requires time to verify their sureties.

Meanwhile, the prosecutor opposed the plea, stating that police officials had already been deputed to their respective addresses all across the country for verification. They said that without verification, there was likelihood that the accused would jump the bail.

The court said that while verification of address was an important procedural step, it cannot be allowed to operate as an obstacle which keeps accused in continued judicial custody.

The court said the investigating officer (IO) himself admitted that the delay in verification was due to external factors such as travel and bank holidays and nothing to do with the accused themselves.

The judge said the accused were young students who were not habitual criminals and keeping them in jail despite being granted bail, would be detrimental to their academic careers.