The Bombay High Court questioned the applicability of sedition charges against 22-year-old Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) student Urvashi Chudawala and granted her anticipatory bail on Tuesday.
Sedition charges were invoked against Ms. Chudawala for allegedly shouting slogans in support of Sharjeel Imam, a student of the Jawaharlal Nehru University arrested for sedition, at an LGBTQ rally. She was charged under Sections 124A (sedition — whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards the Government established by law in India), 153 B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration), 505 (statements conducing public mischief) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.
A single Bench of Justice S.K. Shinde, questioning the applicability of sedition charges, asked if the sloganeering satisfied the twin requirement of intention and tendency to create disorder or disturb the peace by resorting to violence as mentioned in Section 124 A. It said “a citizen had the right comment on the government as long as he does not incite violence or creates disorder”.
Senior counsel Mihir Desai, appearing for Ms. Chudawala, said the slogans referred to by the prosecution were only read out by her from her phone and had nothing to do with Mr. Imam. Her plea said, “She was exercising her fundamental right to speech and the slogans raised by her were neither intended to, nor resulted in any violence or incitement to violence at Azad Maidan.”
Mr. Desai said the Azad Maidan police had not followed the guidelines laid down by the Bombay High Court in the case of Aseem Trivedi, as per which police officials have to undertake a written opinion from the law officer. Mr. Desai also pointed out a Supreme Court ruling which held that mere sloganeering does not attract charges of sedition.
The court asked the State’s counsel, Deepak Thakare, if the police had followed the HC guidelines to get a written legal opinion as a pre-condition while invoking a case of sedition. Mr. Thakare said, “They haven’t, but they will.”
This irked the court, which said it was necessary to follow the guidelines.
Mr. Desai said Ms. Chudawala had examinations from Friday, and would cooperate with the investigation.
The court then granted anticipatory bail to the student on a cash bond of ₹20,000 and directed her to appear before the Azad Maidan police from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday. She cannot leave Mumbai and Thane without the court’s permission, it said. The court noted that the sloganeering may not reflect the applicant’s ideology, and posted the matter to be heard on March 24.
