"Instrumental In Organizing Protest, Active Participation": Delhi Court Denies Bail To Vinod Sharma In Jantar Mantar Sloganeering Case

A Delhi Court has denied bail to Vinod Sharma, National President of Sudarshan Vahini, accused in connection with the alleged inflammatory and anti-Muslim sloganeering at Jantar Mantar after observing that he was instrumental in organizing the protest.

Observing that Sharma had an active participation in the protest, Additional Sessions Judge Anil Antil observed thus:

"The presence of the accused as a participant of an unauthorizedassembly or a protest congregation, not as a curious onlooker or abystander, suggests active participation in the object of the assembly. It ispertinent to state that mere presence of a person in an unauthorized valuewithout attribution to a specific overt act may still be enough to fastencriminal liability vicariously."

It added thus:

"It is also necessary to observe that the accused despite being aware of the intention of the protest / rally organized thereto out of his free will participation and subsequent to such active participation that the applicant can not renegade or disassociate himself from the consequences arises therefrom."

The Court opined that Sharma although was not the person who directly deliveredthe speeches, however, bail could not be granted to him due to the material available on record including his physical presence at the spot alongwith co accused persons "whensuch incendiary speeches were delivered and the interview given to thereporters by the co accused persons, with such intermittent gestures tosupport their acts."

Videos of mob at the gathering shouting slogans openly calling for the killing of Muslims had emerged on Sunday. Lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay, who has now been granted bail by the Court, claimed that the slogans were raised after the meeting organized by him was over. He had organized a meeting calling for the repeal of "colonial-era laws".