BOMBAY HC GIVES JACOB PROTECTION FROM ARREST
MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Wednesday gave Mumbai lawyer and environmental activist Nikita Jacob protection from arrest for three weeks in connection with a non-bailable warrant (NBW) filed by the Delhi Police against her in connection with the farmers’ protests “toolkit” case, to enable her to approach the competent court or investigating officer.
The single bench of justice PD Naik granted transit anticipatory bail to Jacob, who had approached the high court after the Delhi cyber crime unit raided her residence on February 11 and seized her computer and phone in connection with the toolkit that details reading material, news articles and ways to show support to the nearly threemonth-old farmers’ protest against the argri reform bills.
Police allege the toolkit was authored by Jacob and Bengaluru activist Disha Ravi, which was shared by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg on Twitter to lend support to the movement.
Another activist from Beed,
Shantanu Muluk, who had applied for transit anticipatory bail before the Aurangabad bench of the high court, too, was granted the same for a period of 10 days on Tuesday.
The court also referred to the order of justice Vibha Kankanwadi that was passed in Muluk’s application on Tuesday and said that similar reliefs had been sought by the Pune-based engineer as well and the same were granted. The bench of justice Vibha Kankanwadi, while granting bail to Muluk in her order passed on Tuesday, had observed that apprehension of arrest was the key factor that is required to be considered in such applications and as Muluk was seeking limited protection to enable him to approach the competent court or officer, the court was competent to grant the same. Justice Naik said Jacob had been interrogated after which she was apprehensive of being arrested and hence approached the high court for relief to go to Delhi to approach the appropriate court.Disha, Jacob and Muluk were involved in preparing the toolkit and were in direct touch with “pro-Khalistani elements”, the Delhi Police had said on Monday, and shared it with others to tarnish India’s image. They have been booked under IPC Sections 124(a) for sedition, 153(a) for promoting enmity between different sections of the society and 120(b) for criminal conspiracy.