The Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed a petition filed by All India Students Association (AISA) president Neha Bora challenging a notice issued by a Special Executive Magistrate directing her to execute a personal bond of Rs 10,000 to maintain peace, legal news portal Bar and Bench reported.
Justice Subramonium Prasad passed the order, declining to quash the preventive proceedings while issuing specific directions for the magistrate to follow during the ongoing inquiry.
"Writ petition is rejected. However, there are certain directions given for the magistrate to take care of. All the material to be furnished to her," the Court said, according to Bar and Bench.
The High Court further noted that the magistrate will also have to consider the statutory scope and application of Section 135 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). "Whether 135 would warrant a production of the bond at the very first instance, or it's only during the course of the inquiries, and further incident take place, which gives the danger or not. These are matters the magistrate will take into account," the court observed.
According to Bar and Bench, Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for Bora alongside advocates Abhik Chimni, Moksha Sharma, Ayan Dasgupta Samarendra, Pranjal Abrol, and Gurupal Singh, submitted that all calls made by the student leader were entirely peaceful and aimed at asking for reforms without any exhortation to violence.
Sankaranarayanan referred to a press conference held by Bora on October 15 regarding the de-notification of Jantar Mantar as a protest site, and sought to distinguish a protest at Connaught Place from the peaceful gathering Bora had called at Mandi House on October 16. The defense added that there is nothing wrong in calling for regime change in a democracy, noting further that no permission is required to hoist the national flag, and flagged that the magistrate issuing the notice is an ACP acting on senior officers' directions.
Rebutting the arguments, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Chetan Sharma, who represented the Delhi Police alongside Central Government Standing Counsel (CGSC) Ashish Dixit, contended that Sections 126 and 130 of the BNSS must be read together to prevent breaches of public order. The ASG argued that technical splitting would defeat the preventive essence of the law, rejecting claims that the notice was factually flawed. He submitted that prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the BNSS were in force and stated that when police were outnumbered, Bora dodged officers and ran towards Connaught Place, added the report.
The preventive notice was issued by the Delhi Police on October 17 under Sections 126 and 130, read with Section 135(3) of the BNSS, following Bora's detention at Mandi House on October 16. The plea stated that she was held overnight at RK Puram police station before being released the next morning. The notice, received on October 18, directed Bora to appear on October 19 and execute a personal bond of Rs 10,000 with a surety, citing allegations of sloganeering, repeated demonstrations near Jantar Mantar, and crowd instigation. Bora moved the High Court alleging an attempt to curb peaceful dissent, culminating in Saturday's ruling where the High Court refused to quash the proceedings but ordered the magistrate to furnish all underlying material to her.