A Delhi Court has granted bail to three men who were arrested from Shaheen Bagh protest site in NewDelhi for allegedly disobeying the direction of the government and police over restrictions imposed to curb the spread of COVID-19 .
The court noted that in the current scenario, the Supreme Court and Delhi High Court have both passed directions regarding de-congestion of already overpopulated prisons in Delhi.
The State opposed the bail on the ground that the arrested persons “might mobilise a crowd at the protest site and that the same can prejudice the maintenance of law and order and also may affect adversely the efforts of the State to contain the spread of Coronavirus”.
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The court, however, said that the apprehension stated by the State could be addressed by imposing “suitable restrictions” on the persons.
While granting bail to the trio — Syed Taseer Ahmed, Shan Mohammed, and Syed Masood Ahmad — the court directed them not to visit the Shaheen Bagh protest site for the “purpose of any protest”.
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“The applicant shall not be posting any opinion regarding the Citizenship (Amendment) Act/ National Population Register/ National Register of Citizens on any social media, instant messengers nor will be giving any interview in this regard to print and electronic media,” the court said.
They should not participate in any meeting or gathering where there were more than five persons in total during the existence of the advisories of the government regarding Coronavirus.
Besides, the trio will have to mark their attendance at Shaheen Bagh Police Station every Monday at 10 a.m. during the investigation period of the case.
The three were arrested after they disobeyed directions regarding the lockdown and prohibition of protest gathering in the wake of pandemic. The police said the accused did not pay any heed to the directions of its officials to remove themselves from the protest site and even obstructed the police from discharging its duties.
On the other hand, the accused in their respective bail pleas contended that they were likely to be infected with the Coronavirus if detained for long.