A Mumbai Sessions Court has rejected the anticipatory bail pleas of two students of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS). The two students were accused of raising slogans and asked to release Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam during a gathering last year. However, anticipatory bail was granted to seven other students in the case by the court. The judge distinguished two students, Kamakhya Das and Abhirup Paul, on the grounds of the material allegedly recovered from them during the investigation.
The order came in observation that being students, the accused were expected to “respect the law of the land.”
“Though the accused have not committed criminal offence but their act coupled with the fact of material found with applicant accused Kamakhya Das, certainly raises doubt about her conduct, which suggested her involvement in the alleged crime,” the court held in Das’s case as reported by the Bar and Bench.
“Certain books published by the members of the Indian Communist Party (Maoist) were found downloaded and saved. Even the WhatsApp chatting found in his mobile phone suggested that he had attended various places as a field work. Moreover, certain information was deleted by him. From all these materials, it appeared that he is allegedly inspired by the thinking or ideology of Maoist,” the court held in Paul’s plea as reported by the Bar and Bench.
Seven others were also booked for participating in an event in October that commemorated the death anniversary of former Delhi University professor GN Saibaba and were granted anticipatory bail.
Describing the detention, a student speaking to FoEJ Media said, “This is just to target students; this is something that should not happen.”
“Students gathered to read a few poems written by Professor GN Saibaba to mark his death anniversary. They gathered in a peaceful manner, read the poems, placed a few candles around a photograph of Professor Saibaba, and dispersed—all in about ten minutes,” a student said.
Meanwhile, the police said that slogans like “Umar Khalid ko riha karo” and “Sharjeel Imam ko riha karo” were raised during the gathering. In the initial processes the FIR named nine people and others; however, the investigation was later transferred from Trombay police to the Crime Investigation Department (CID).
The court said that the homage to Saibaba could not be termed illegal, as he had been acquitted by the Bombay High Court in 2024, but the event went beyond paying tribute to him. “It was not the platform for raising such slogans,” the court said.
Saibaba, whose body was more than 90% disabled and used a wheelchair, spent over seven years in jail on accusations of having links with Maoists. In the year 2024, he was acquitted by the Bombay High Court. However, seven months later, in October 2024, Saibaba died of postoperative complications in Hyderabad.
Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam have been in jail for more than five years under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act for allegedly conspiring in the Delhi riots of 2020, which killed at least 53 people.
