Now Reading: Mumbai court denies anticipatory bail to TISS students over slogans for Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam
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Mumbai court denies anticipatory bail to TISS students over slogans for Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam
Mumbai court denies anticipatory bail to TISS students over slogans for Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam
A Mumbai sessions court on August 7 denied anticipatory bail to two TISS students, Abhirup Paul and Kamakhya Das, for raising slogans seeking the release of Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, who…
The Story in Brief
A Mumbai sessions court on August 7 denied anticipatory bail to two TISS students, Abhirup Paul and Kamakhya Das, for raising slogans seeking the release of Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, who face trial under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). Additional Sessions Judge VB Bohra said the Supreme Court denied bail to Khalid and Imam, and students must respect the law.
The court, however, granted bail to seven other accused students, observing that no incriminating material was recovered from them. For Paul and Das, the judge cited material found on their phones, including books linked to CPI (Maoist) authors and deleted information, which he said required custodial interrogation to ascertain links with banned organisations. The FIR, lodged by Mumbai Police in October 2025, was later taken over by the Crime Investigation Department.
The Indian Opinion
The court’s decision distinguishes between merely attending a tribute and possessing material that raises doubts about intent. Yet the narrative that peaceful sloganeering equals sedition is dangerous: the judge himself noted that chanting 'Sharjeel ko riha karo' is not a crime if no offence is made out. The real test is whether police can show actual links to banned groups, not just downloaded books. Will the CID produce evidence beyond WhatsApp chats and social media posts?
Sources (2): livelaw.in, barandbench.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources.
