All India Students' Association president Neha Bora on Monday approached Delhi High Court against a Delhi Police notice asking her to execute a bond before a special executive magistrate pledging to maintain peace.
The Leftist student leader, who has become the face of the youth protest against the SIR and chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, is likely to seek an urgent hearing in the high court, which shut this week for Dussehra vacations.
The Delhi Police notice asked Neha to appear before a special executive magistrate (SEM) on Monday to execute a personal bond of ₹10,000 with one surety "for keeping the peace for the period of inquiry".
Section 126 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) empowers the SEM to require a person to execute a bond for maintaining peace if there is credible information that they are likely to commit a breach of peace, disturb public tranquillity, or commit a wrongful act that may cause such a disturbance.
Neha has urged the high court to stay the notice and direct the police to withdraw it. She has argued that the notice is prima facie ambiguous, factually incorrect, and violates Articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution that grant freedom of speech and expression and the right to personal liberty.
Advocates Abhik Chimni, Pranjal Abrol and Moksha moved the plea on Neha’s behalf. They are likely to inform the SEM about their petition before the high court.
Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the Cockroach Janta Party that is one of the spearheads of the protests against Gyanesh, had also been taken into custody and forced to sign a bond pledging not to breach the public peace for a year.
He was later arrested and charged with violating the bond when he continued his protest. Dipke argues that protesting peacefully does not violate the bond.
The notice to Neha "is a calculated effort to curb and criminalise the right to peaceful protest", the AISA, student arm of the CPIML Liberation, said in a statement.
"We have repeatedly witnessed the Delhi Police misusing Section 163 of the BNSS (formerly Section 144) to shield chief election commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and stifle peaceful demonstrations. Now, the police (are) resorting to new legal mechanisms to curtail protests demanding the resignation of Gyanesh Kumar."
Neha has been detained multiple times while protesting against Gyanesh. On October 16, she was taken into preventive detention while she was on her way to participate in the CJP's "Lehra Do Tiranga" march. She was released on October 17. The AISA alleged that both the Delhi Police and Right-wing groups had inflicted brutality on the students leading the protests.
"It is deeply ironic that the police accuse peaceful demonstrators of disturbing the peace when law enforcement — acting on instructions from the Modi government — has deployed over 40,000 paramilitary personnel, repeatedly imposed Section 163 of the BNSS, permitted Right-wing groups to target peaceful protesters, and shut down Metro stations and Internet connectivity," the AISA said.