Delhi court cancels non-bailable warrants issued against student leader Aishe Ghosh

Judicial magistrate first class Vijayshree Rathore of the Patiala House courts cancelled the warrants subject to a cost of ₹1,000 after Ghosh appeared physically before the court

A Delhi court on Thursday cancelled the non-bailable warrants issued against student leader Aishe Ghosh in connection with a 2021 demonstration case outside Banga Bhawan, after she appeared before a magistrate.

The court had on Wednesday stayed the two non-bailable warrants (NBWs) issued against her. (@aishe_ghosh)

Judicial magistrate first class Vijayshree Rathore of the Patiala House courts cancelled the warrants subject to a cost of ₹1,000 after Ghosh appeared physically before the court.

The court had on Wednesday stayed the two non-bailable warrants (NBWs) issued against her for protesting outside the Banga Bhawan in 2021 over alleged police action against Left-wing youth organisations in Kolkata.

The order came two days after the Delhi Police had entered the New Delhi office of the Communist Party of India-Marxist to execute the warrants, which led to a confrontation between the party leaders and police personnel.

CPI-M members had alleged that the action was over Ghosh’s role in the recent central Delhi protests, which led to the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

Advocates KN Jayasankar and Subhash Chandran KR, representing former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) president and CPI-M leader Ghosh, had on Wednesday moved an application in court, stating that Ghosh could not appear on the last date of the hearing due to unavoidable circumstances.

After perusing the record, the court stated, “In view of the submissions, NBWs are stayed till NDOH [next date of hearing] with direction to appear in person in NDOH.”

The court issued the NBWs against Ghosh on April 11, after noting that the warrants issued against her on December 12, 2025, had been returned without being executed.

Then, the court had said, “As per the report, the accused was not found at the given address. However, she was telephonically informed about the date of hearing”.

Subsequently, the court went on to issue the warrants against her through the deputy commissioner of police.

According to court records, Ghosh and her counsel failed to appear in court since August 2024, following which the magistrate issued multiple bailable warrants against her, before issuing the first non-bailable warrant in December 2025.

On February 12, 2021, members of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) held a demonstration outside Banga Bhawan in Chanakyapuri. The protest was organised against the alleged police crackdown on student unions and youth protestors in Kolkata for opposing the Citizenship Amendment Act-National Register of Citizens (CAA-NRC).

Delhi Police maintained that the protest took place in a prohibited area and allegedly violated prohibitory orders. They alleged that the protesters raised slogans and blocked the road, refusing to disperse despite clear directions.

A first information report (FIR) was lodged at Barakhamba Road Police Station against Ghosh and 15 others, under sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 34 (common intention) and 447 (criminal trespass) of the Indian Penal Code on February 12, 2021.

A charge sheet was filed in the case in February 2022, with arguments on the charges yet to begin.