'A city civil and sessions court has rejected the bail application filed by Amulya Leona in relation to a sedition case registered by the city police for raising pro-Pakistan slogans during the anti-CAA rally held here in February... The grounds taken by counsel of Amulya for seeking bail, the judge said, “The points which have been raised by the petitioner are to be considered at the time of the full-fledged trial. If the petitioner is granted bail, she may abscond. Therefore, the bail petition of the petitioner is liable to be rejected."...'
'A key element of the Delhi Police’s investigation into the communal violence in Northeast Delhi is its claim that the riots were part of a “well-hatched” conspiracy. And at the core of its conspiracy theory, lies an alleged meeting that took place on 8 January at Shaheen Bagh. The Quint has accessed two charge sheets submitted by the Delhi Police, both related to the violence in the Chand Bagh area.
'While Muslims and their properties were disproportionately targeted during the communal violence that engulfed India’s national capital between February 25 and 28, a 700-page charge sheet filed by the Delhi Police in a case related to the murder of an Intelligence Bureau official attempts to create a different narrative: it suggests that Hindus were provoked to respond to Muslims. Of the 53 people killed during the two-and-a half days of rioting, 38 were Muslim. Fourteen mosques and a dargah were attacked...'
'A case has been registered against the former executive director of human rights advocacy group Amnesty International Aakar Patel on June 5 for posting “offensive” content on social media, which allegedly sought to instigate a section of people against the government.
'The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has held the use of phrases like ‘lal salam’ and ‘comrade’ are proof that Bittu Sonowal, a close aide of Assam farmers’ leader Akhil Gogoi, is a Maoist. Sonowal was arrested earlier this year and (along with Gogoi and two of this other aides) charged under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, by the NIA. These arrests were made in the wake of the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests across Assam in December, 2019...'
'The Delhi Police’s Special Cell on Friday ‘arrested’ Pinjra Tod activist and Jawaharlal Nehru University student Natasha Narwal who was already in custody and booked her under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The FIR under which she has been charged — 59/2020 — is the same one that has been used by the Delhi Police Special Cell against Jamia Millia Islamia students Safoora Zargar, Asif Tanha, Sharjeel Imam and other anti-CAA campaigners, all of whom are facing charges under sections 13, 16, 17 and 18 of the UAPA...'
'A case of sedition has been registered against a young man for allegedly making ‘objectionable remarks’ on Facebook about Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adityanath, the Indian Express reported... The FIR alleges, “Rajesh Kumar Shukla, a resident of Allahabad, had said in his Facebook post ‘I do not understand why Priyanka Gandhi Vadra did not hire Uttar Pradesh Transport Corporation buses for migrant laborers?’ On this post, a resident of Allahabad, Anoop Singh, made objectionable remarks against Yogi Adityanath. He said, “Yogi kutta hai is liye (because Yogi is a dog).”...'
'The Delhi Police, which on Saturday arrested two founding members of the women-led rights movement Pinjra Tod for taking part in a sit-in protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act at Jafrabad in February this year, re-arrested the two after they were granted bail. This time, police claimed to have acted on an FIR that includes murder charges. Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal, both students of New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University, had been at the forefront of the Pinjra Tod movement, which started as an effort to break punitive hostel curfew hours for women...'
'Amidst the dark shadow of India’s lockdown, the Delhi police – controlled by the Central government – has been busy with tasks entirely unrelated to controlling the Covid-19 pandemic. Its schedule is packed with searching homes and offices; confiscating phones and documents; and questioning, detaining, and arresting large numbers of persons. It is instructive that these arrests are being made when the Supreme Court has directed governments to decongest jails to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
'Adding to the woes of Dr Kafeel Khan – who has been lodged in Mathura jail since January – the National Security Act (NSA) charges that were slapped against him were extended by a period of three months on Tuesday, 12 May. NSA charges were slapped against Khan in February for three months, which were scheduled to get over on Tuesday evening, his brother Adil Khan told The Quint. The Mathura jail has a capacity of 500 prisoners but has 1,750 prisoners lodged in it, even as the country observes a coronavirus induced-lockdown...'
