Delhi High Court Issues Notice On Pinjra Tod Activists, Devangana Kalita, Natasha Narwal's Appeal Against Bail Rejection

The Delhi High Court today issued notice on and sought response from the Delhi Police in an appeal by Pinjra Tod activists, Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal, against the rejection of their bail application in relation to the Delhi riots case under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967.

The appeal was being heard by a Division Bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Anup J Bhambhani and is next listed for hearing on March 10.

In January, the Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat, Karkardooma Court had refused to grant bail to Kalita and Narwal after opining that there were reasonable grounds to believe that the accusations against them were prima face true.

Kalita, who was arrested in the case under for allegedly being part of a premeditated conspiracy behind the riots, has been lodged in Tihar jail along with another Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student and Pinjra Tod member, Natasha Narwal, after being arrested by the Delhi Police on May 23 last year, in connection with a protest against the CAA in north-east Delhi's Jafrabad area in February, 2020. The conspiracy case is being probed by Delhi Police's Special Cell.

The Delhi Court had arrived at its conclusion considering the statement of protected witnesses under Section 164 CrPC and the contents of a WhatsApp group under scrutiny.

Kalita and Narwal were represented by Advocate Adit Pujari.