Bengaluru: Booked for raising pro-Pakistan slogans, Amulya Leona has now been granted bail after serving 4 months in the jail for the offence.
The young woman, who was charged for saying ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ along with similar slogans for other countries including India, was denied bail on Wednesday as the court felt that she might abscond if granted.
However, Ms. Leona’s lawyers found a loophole and got her out of jail on the basis of completion of time after which she has to be offered bail.
NDTV reported her advocate Prasanna R saying that the delay of the state in submitting a chargesheet in the case beyond the stipulated time meant she was eligible for “default bail”.
“The default bail application was moved before the magistrate under whose jurisdiction the alleged crime was committed. The charge sheet has not been submitted by the state within 90 days. So default bail has been granted. We had moved the default bail plea on May 26 and again on May 29 when the court told us the earlier mail IDs had been disabled. A physical application was filed on June 2. The state filed the charge sheet on June 3,” the lawyer said.
Nevertheless, the prosecution debated that they should be permitted additional time, the court rejected the demand and gave the order in favor of Ms. Leona. Her releasing process has started.
Clarifying over the concerns and grounds on which the woman’s lawyers requested for 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.”
“In the present case, the petitioner (Amulya) is also alleged to have said ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ which could affect peace, law and order. The investigation officer has not completed the probe and has not filed the chargesheet,” the judge had said while rejecting the plea for her bail.
The court had also said that she might get partake in offences of similar kind if she is granted bail, which can affect the peace and well-being of the country.
Amulya was arrested on February 20, 2020 after she raised ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans at a protest organized against the Citizenship Amendment Act CAA at Freedom Park in Bengaluru. She was then detained by the Karnataka Police, which arrested and produced her before a local magistrate court. After this, she was sent to 14-day judicial custody on sedition charges under Section 125A of the IPC.
There was country-wide debate over the incident. Ms. Leona, in one of her facebook posts, had also added the word ‘zindabad’ to many other countries as well. During the rally as well, while on the dais, she also did try to shout ‘Hindustan Zindabad’ but before that, she was pulled away from the stage and taken by the police.
She was told to be guilty of causing enmity between communities, sedition and creating situations to cause political and public issues.
