Interim bail for jailed Pinjra Tod member to cremate father

Natasha Narwal, booked under the stringent UAPA, has remained behind bars at Tihar Jail since May last year after she was arrested for an alleged “premeditated conspiracy” in the northeast Delhi riots in February.

The Delhi high court on Monday granted three-week interim bail to jailed Pinjra Tod member Natasha Narwal to perform the last rites of her father who succumbed to Covid-19 on Sunday.

Pinjra Tod activist Natasha Narwal's father Mahavir Narwal (71), a senior member of the CPI(M), breathed his last at 6pm on Sunday. (Social media)

Narwal, booked under the stringent UAPA, has remained behind bars at Tihar Jail since May last year after she was arrested for an alleged “premeditated conspiracy” in the northeast Delhi riots in February.

Her father, Mahavir Narwal (71), a senior member of the CPI(M), breathed his last at 6pm on Sunday.

A bench of justices Siddharth Mridul and Anup J Bhambhani granted bail to Narwal on a personal bond of ₹50,000, while noting that there is no one else in the family to perform the last rites and cremation.

Narwal’s brother, Akash, is also in isolation after he tested positive.

“...we are of the view that the release of the applicant is imperative in this hour of grief and personal loss and in the facts and circumstances of the case,” the bench said in its oral order. The court also asked her to maintain “radio silence” for the duration of her interim bail and not to tweet anything.

Appearing for Narwal, advocate Adit S Pujari, told the court that the hospital in Rohtak, where her father died, is waiting for her to release the body.

Special public prosecutor Amit Mahajan, representing the Delhi Police, did not oppose the plea but urged the court to pass directions to Narwal that she should not tweet anything related to the pending case.

To this, the bench said, “Do you think at the hour of grief she will tweet?....We are not mentioning in the order but she will maintain radio silence.”

It asked her to comply with all the norms of the pandemic and observe all the precautions, including wearing a PPE kit at the time of the cremation. It also asked her to give a negative RT-PCR report to the jail authorities at the time of surrender.

Narwal had sought interim bail from a lower court on Saturday to meet her ailing father but it was adjourned for Monday.