New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Friday rejected a plea filed by All India Students’ Association (AISA) president Neha Bora challenging a notice requiring her to furnish a personal bond of Rs 10,000 with one surety to maintain peace during an inquiry following her participation in a protest in the national capital on October 16.
A single-judge Bench of Justice Subramonium Prasad rejected the writ petition at this stage, while directing that all materials relied upon in the proceedings be provided to Bora.
The High Court also issued certain directions to the Special Executive Magistrate (SEM) to ensure due care before passing an order in the inquiry.
Bora had challenged a notice issued by the SEM on October 17 under Sections 126 and 130 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), read with Section 135(3), requiring her to execute a bond to maintain peace.
During the hearing, senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for Bora, argued that she was detained 10-15 minutes after reaching Mandi House in Delhi on the evening of October 16 and had not committed any offence or engaged in any act that could be construed as a breach of peace. He contended that her detention was illegal and stressed that she was not associated with a separate call by another organisation, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), to unfurl the National Flag at Central Park in Connaught Place.
Sankaranarayanan also submitted that Bora was not allowed to contact her family members or lawyers immediately after being detained. Challenging the legality of the notice, the senior counsel argued that the proceedings had been initiated mechanically without the requisite preliminary inquiry or material establishing the need for preventive action.
He further contended that the SEM could require a person to execute a bond for maintaining peace or good behaviour under Section 136 of the BNSS only after the inquiry had concluded.
Opposing the plea, Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma submitted that there had been “12 violations” by Bora, one after another, which had been examined by the Magistrate. He also referred to remarks allegedly made by Bora at a press conference regarding “regime change”, arguing that a change of regime takes place through votes and not through “lumpen elements in the nerve of New Delhi”.
The petition contended that the notice did not disclose any material establishing a likelihood of breach of peace, a necessary precondition for initiating preventive proceedings under Section 126 of the BNSS.
Bora was among those detained by the Delhi Police on October 16 as security was tightened across central Delhi ahead of a proposed ‘Tiranga Assembly’ called by the CJP at Central Park in Connaught Place.
The protest, scheduled for 5 p.m., had been denied permission by the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC).
–IANS–
