E-Paper
Three accused of raising anti-Muslim slogans at Jantar Mantar denied bail
Metropolitan magistrate Udbhav Kumar Jain dismissed the bail pleas of Preet Singh, Deepak Singh and Vinod Sharma and said a prima facie perusal of all material available on record, including the video footage of the incident, failed to find support in favour of the accused.
A Delhi court dismissed the bail plea of three persons accused of raising communal slogans at Jantar Mantar during a protest on August 8 and said they made scathing remarks which were “undemocratic” and “uncalled for” from the citizens of the country.
Metropolitan magistrate Udbhav Kumar Jain dismissed the bail pleas of Preet Singh, Deepak Singh and Vinod Sharma and said a prima facie perusal of all material available on record, including the video footage of the incident, failed to find support in favour of the accused.
A video of anti-Muslim sloganeering during a protest at Jantar Mantar was widely circulated on social media, following which the Delhi Police registered a case in connection with the matter on Monday. Hundreds of people had attended the protest organised by “Bharat Jodo Aandolan” at Jantar Mantar on Sunday.
Jain said, “In one of the clippings, applicant/accused, as identified by the IO (investigating officer) in the video clipping, can be seen with the other accused Deepak Singh, who in one of the video clippings has made scathing remarks which are undemocratic and uncalled for from a citizen of this country where principles like secularism hold the value of a basic feature imbibed in the Constitution.”
“Freedom to express oneself is indeed allowed to be enjoyed by citizens to the fullest possible extent, yet with every right there is a corresponding duty attached. The principle behind Section 153A (IPC) is to preserve religious/communal harmony and it is the duty of every citizen that while he enjoys his right to express himself, he preserves religious harmony. This indeed is the positive aspect of secularism,” he further said in the order of August 12.
The IO submitted that the release of the accused would be prejudicial in maintaining public tranquillity and would create a further law and order situation.
The public prosecutor claimed that the gathering was held without permission near the Parliament during the ongoing monsoon session and the accused persons violated Covid-19 protocols.
The court said, “Considering the fact that investigation of the present case is at a nascent stage, the nature of accusations levelled against the accused persons and also taking into account the overall facts and circumstances of the case, this court is not inclined to allow the present application at this stage.”
Earlier on August 11, the court granted bail to Supreme Court lawyer and former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, noting that he was neither seen in the video nor were the slogans were raised at his behest.
