A Delhi court on Friday directed the Delhi Police to issue a ten-day notice to former JNU Students’ Union vice-president Shehla Rashid if they decide to arrest her in a sedition case.
Disposing of her application for anticipatory bail in the case, Additional Sessions Judge S.K. Arora said: “Keeping in view the nature of allegations and also considering the submissions of the investigating officer that the probe is at a preliminary stage, anticipatory bail application is disposed of with directions to the probe officer that if the need arises for the arrest of the applicant/accused, she be issued a ten-day pre-arrest notice.”
In September, the court had granted Ms. Rashid protection from arrest and asked her to join the investigation as and when called to do so by the probe officer.
Tweets on J&K
The Delhi Police has lodged a case against Ms. Rashid on a complaint by a lawyer regarding her tweets about the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, following withdrawal of special status to the State.
Lawyer Alok Srivastava had alleged that Ms. Rashid’s tweets mentioned alleged human rights violations by the Army to serve the agenda of the ruling BJP.
In the tweets, Ms. Rashid had alleged that the Army was indiscriminately picking up men, raiding houses and torturing people in the Valley. She also charged that human rights abuses were being carried out in Kashmir.
The allegations had drawn sharp reactions. Ms. Rashid, however, had said that she was ready to give evidence if the Army constituted an inquiry.
The Army has officially rejected Ms. Rashid’s claims and called them baseless and unverified.
