Kartavya Path protest: Court defers order on bail pleas for December 8

A Delhi court on Thursday deferred its order on the bail pleas of several accused persons in the Kartavya Path protest case for December 8.

Judicial Magistrate Aridaman Singh Cheema deferred the order on the bail pleas, saying the new material put on record by the investigating officers (IOs) would require time to be perused.

The judge said that “new facts can be unearthed” by the fresh evidence, and they needed to be reviewed.

The counsels for the accused persons, however, requested the court to expedite the order.  “When will we get bail? Every day, the Delhi Police comes in with new arguments and we have to put up a new defence,” said one of the advocates.

“How many more allegations do you want to put on my client? The FIR says someone else sprayed the pepper spray.

“Next, it was said that my client did. Then you said my client shouted slogans in support of Hidma. But we were never shown the video upon request,” said a counsel for another accused.  Yet another advocate said that his client had an exam next week. The protest took place outside the India Gate on November 23 over rising air pollution levels in the national Capital.

The protesters were accused of raising controversial slogans and using pepper spray on cops during the protest, which injured some police personnel trying to control the situation. Officials said 23 protesters have been arrested in two separate cases lodged at the Parliament Street and Kartavya Path police stations.

Seventeen protesters were held in connection with a scuffle at the Parliament Street police station, while six were arrested in a case involving the alleged use of pepper spray on cops during the protest at India Gate.

Fifteen of the 17 accused in the Parliament Street case have also been rearrested in the Kartavya Path case.

Of the 17, nine were granted bail on November 28 by a different magistrate hearing the Parliament Street case, while the remaining eight secured bail last Tuesday.