No bail for 3 men accused of raising anti-muslim slogans during protest

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court has 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 video footage, failed to find support in their favour.

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 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.”

“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,” the metropolitan magistrate said in the August 12 order.

On August 11, a 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.