A court in Delhi on Friday granted a Goa-based activist Subham Kar Chaudhuri protection from coercive action in a case filed by the police for the creation of an online document intended to help amplify farmer protests, Live Law reported.
Chaudhuri moved the Patiala House Court after the expiry of 10-day transit anticipatory bail granted to him by the Goa bench of the Bombay High Court on March 3.
Assistant Public Prosecutor Irfan Ahmed told Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana that he has no objection if the court wants to extend interim protection. The case will be heard next on March 15 as the anticipatory bail applications filed by co-accused Disha Ravi and Shantanu Muluk are also scheduled for hearing then.
“Meanwhile, no coercive action [will] be taken against the accused,” the judge said, according to Bar and Bench.
Advocate Soutik Banerjee, representing Chaudhari, informed the court that his client’s case was different from that of the other accused as his role was limited to his association with the organisation called “Extinction Rebellion”.
During Friday’s hearing, Banerjee argued that Chaudhari did not edit and create the document that authorities say is anti-government. The “toolkit” – a common term used by social activists for campaign material – was first tweeted by Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg in support of India’s protesting farmers on February 4.
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