Report by Tanya Singh:
A Delhi court on Tuesday granted bail to climate activist Disha Ravi, arrested from Bengaluru on February 13, in a Google toolkit document case, saying there was not enough material to keep the 22-year-old in custody. Ravi was granted bail on two sureties of Rs 1 lakh each. Disha’s lawyer Abhinav Sekhri requested the court to reduce the amount to Rs 50,000 each but the request was denied.
LiveLaw has reported that in its order, the court said that considering the “scanty and sketchy evidence, there were no palpable reason to breach the rule of bail for a 22-year-old girl who has absolutely no criminal antecedents.” Ravi was also produced before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate at Patiala House by the Delhi Police at the end of her police custody, which expired today, according to Bar and Bench. Shortly after this was introduced a second decide – Pankaj Sharma, the Chief Metropolitan Justice of the Peace of the Patiala Home Courtroom – disposed off an utility by the police searching for prolonged custody of Ms Ravi; the police had sought an extra 4 days of custody.
Ms Ravi, who spent six days in police custody and two in jail since Delhi Police arrested her from her residence in Bengaluru, is accused of making and spreading an internet doc linked to the farmers’ protest towards the centre’s agriculture legal guidelines – a doc the police says was meant to revive a Khalistani group and “unfold disaffection towards the Indian state”.
