HC EXTENDS BAIL OF TV JOURNALIST, ORDERS RELEASE OF HER ASSOCIATES

CHANDIGARH : The Punjab and Haryana high court on Tuesday extended interim bail of Delhibased TV journalist Bhawana Gupta and ordered release of two of her associates arrested in Ludhiana in an accident case.

Gupta along with video journalist Mritunjay Kumar and driver Parmender Singh Rawat were booked and arrested last Thursday when their car allegedly hit a woman in Ludhiana, where they were covering an event to be attended by Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.

They approached the high court on Saturday and Gupta was granted interim bail.

The bench of justice AG Masih on Tuesday recorded that prima facie it appeared that allegations in the FIR against Kumar and Rawat do not make out an offence which would be non-bailable.

“Firstly, the officer, who had taken these two petitioners in custody, could not have done so without making them aware of the fact that they could avail of the remedy of release on submission of bail bonds or surety. The same would be the position of remand at the hands of the duty magistrate as also the special court. It appears that at no stage, the provisions of the statute were actually gone through or seen,” the court recorded, adding that in the arresting officer and the judicial officers proceeded to pass the orders of arrest and remand in a “mechanical manner”.

“Continuance of a citizen in custody without there being a mandate of law i.e. illegal custody cannot be permitted. A court and that too, a constitutional court, when comes to know of the same, cannot shut its eyes to the same. Would it be appropriate to a citizen to continue in incarceration when it is not only apparent from the allegations but an undisputed position that petitioners No. 2 and 3 (Kumar and Rawat) have not committed the alleged offences which are non-bailable?,” the bench further said posting the matter for hearing on May 22.