Court relief for Disha: Home food, 15-min calls to family

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Tuesday allowed climate activist Disha Ravi, who was arrested in connection with the toolkit document in support of farmers’ protests and has been charged with sedition, to have a copy of the FIR, the remand application and items such as warm clothes, books, masks and home cooked food.

Chief metropolitan magistrate Pankaj Sharma allowed seven applications moved by the 22-year-old climate activist, seeking the copy of the FIR, remand applications, grounds of arrest and request for a meeting with a lawyer.

The activist was arrested from Bengaluru on Saturday by the Delhi Police for allegedly creating and sharing a protest social media toolkit backing the farmers’ agitation against the Centre’s new farm laws, which seek to open up agricultural trade in the country.

The arrest was met with criticism from across quarters, and led to protests demanding the 22-year-old be freed.

The Delhi Police claimed on Monday that Ravi, along with Mumbai-based lawyer Nikita Jacob and Pune-based engineer Shantanu Muluk, created the social media toolkit and allegedly shared it with others “to tarnish India’s image” and incite unrest.

The judge on Monday also allowed her to speak to her mother and family members for 15 minutes over telephone after she, through her counsel, sought a longer duration call. The counsel told the court that five minutes was not enough to speak over the phone.

The court also allowed Ravi’s counsel to meet her every day for 30 minutes.

Police also claimed that she sent the toolkit to Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg through the Telegram app and “coaxed her to act on it”. Nonbailable warrants have been issued against Jacob and Muluk, who, police say, are currently absconding.

The arrest was slammed across quarters — including activists, academics, civil society leaders and a host of political parties — and has since then sparked protests in Bengaluru, Mumbai, as well as in the national capital.

Further, activists have condemned the Delhi Police’s actions on creators and editors of the toolkit, calling such a document standard advocacy procedure, and did not constitute a crime, because it was entirely up to the people whether or not to follow the directions suggested by such a document.

Several legal experts have also questioned the Delhi Police’s actions during the arrest from Bengaluru, an allegation that the agency has denied.

THE 22-YEAR-OLD CLIMATE ACTIVIST SOUGHT A COPY OF THE FIR, REMAND APPLICATIONS, GROUNDS OF ARREST AND REQUEST FOR A MEETING WITH A LAWYER