A Delhi court on Friday sent 22-year-old climate activist Disha Ravi to three-day judicial custody in connection with the farm protest document case, reported Bar and Bench. The Delhi Police had filed the case after Swedish activist Greta Thunberg tweeted the campaign document to support the farmers’ protest against the agricultural laws.
Ravi was produced by the Delhi Police in front of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Aakash Jain as her five-day police custody ended on Friday. Appearing for the Delhi Police, advocate Irfan Ahmed sought three days of judicial custody for Ravi, submitting that she was evasive during investigation, Bar and Bench reported. Ahmed also told the court Ravi’s bail plea was likely to be taken up by the Sessions Court on Saturday.
The Delhi Police counsel argued that it was necessary to make Ravi confront two other co-accused in the case, Nikita Jacob and Shantanu Muluk. He claimed that Ravi had shifted the blame on them. Ahmed also informed the court that Muluk has been sent a notice asking to join the investigation on February 22, according to Bar and Bench.
Meanwhile, Advocate Siddharth Agarwal, appearing for Ravi, sought her release as the case diary produced by the Delhi Police was not in order. “Under [Section] 167 [of Criminal Procedure Code], the court has to consider adequate grounds for remanding me to custody on the basis of case diary,” Agarwal argued. “I’m objecting to the manner in which case diary is being provided.. I would request that this is not a case diary in accordance be law and I should be released on that ground alone.”
Ravi was arrested on February 13 from her Bengaluru residence by the crime branch of the Delhi Police for allegedly sharing and editing a document intended to help the protests against the new farm laws. The next day, a Delhi court sent Ravi to police custody for five days. The “toolkit” – a common term used by social activists for campaign material – was tweeted by Thunberg in support of India’s protesting farmers on February 4.
On February 15, the police had claimed that Ravi, Jacob and Muluk attended a Zoom call with what they called a “pro-Khalistani” organisation in Canada, the Poetic Justice Foundation, to chalk out the modalities related to the farmers’ protests against the new agricultural laws. The organisation is an advocacy group that often raises questions connected with human rights. However, the police claim it is promoting Khalistanism or Sikh separatism, a charge that the group denies.
The Bombay High Court gave Muluk a 10-day transit bail on February 16, while Jacob got protection from arrest for three weeks the next day.
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