Bombay HC grants anticipatory bail to TISS student charged with sedition – Times of India

Mumbai: The Bombay high court has granted anticipatory bail to a 22-year-old student of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), who was charged with sedition last year for allegedly shouting slogans in support of jailed JNU student Sharjeel Imam at an LGBTQ event in the city.
In an order passed on October 30, a single bench presided over by Justice NJ Jamadar confirmed the interim protection from arrest given earlier to the student, Urvashi Chudawala, and granted her anticipatory bail after it was informed by the prosecution that only forensic reports were awaited in the ongoing probe in the case. The HC directed Chudawala to co-operate with probe into the case and prohibited her from leaving the country without prior permission from the court.
In February last year, the police had booked Chudawala and 50 others under sedition charges for raising “anti-national” slogans in support of Imam and against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), at the Mumbai Pride Gathering event organised on February 1 at Azad Maidan. Imam has been arrested for allegedly delivering an inflammatory speech and inciting violence during CAA-NRC protests in 2019. Chudawala had approached the HC soon after seeking anticipatory bail.
At the time, another single bench of the high court had granted her interim relief and said that in the event of her arrest, Chudawala be released on a personal bond of Rs 20,000. On October 30, while disposing of the plea, Justice Jamadar noted that while granting her interim protection on February 11, last year, the HC had said in its order that merely raising slogans did not amount to sedition. Justice Jamadar said the court’s observations made then continued to be relevant at the present stage. PTI