Court rejects ball plea of 2 TISS students

Kochi: Two students of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) were denied anticipatory bail by a Mumbai court for allegedly shouting slogans in backing jailed activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam.
The court observed that the charges that the students had shouted slogans in support of Khalid and Imam besides recovery of electronic devices, weighed against granting them anticipatory bail, The Indian Express reported.
The students have also been booked for possessing downloaded books and other material that showed their solidarity with Maoist ideology, The Indian Express reported.
Seven others, who were also booked after taking part in an event in October commemorating the death anniversary of former Delhi University professor G N Saibaba, were granted anticipatory bail.
Saibaba spent over seven years in jail for his alleged links with the Maoists.
Khalid and Imam have been in jail for more than five years under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act for their alleged role in a conspiracy behind the 2020 Delhi riots.
The students’ lawyer argued that the material did not establish any links to Maoist ideology and that the literature was freely available for purchase.