Hours after 22-year-old climate change activist Disha Ravi was granted bail by a Delhi court on Tuesday, her friends and family praised the decision. Disha had been arrested more than nine days ago by the Delhi police in Bengaluru on February 13. She was granted bail by the Patiala House Court in Delhi against two sureties of Rs 1 lakh each.
“My mind feels lighter after hearing about the bail today,” Disha Ravi’s mother Manjula told TNM.
“I had faith in our judiciary and after I saw what happened today, my faith has only strengthened. Even if the process was slow, the right thing has happened in the end. I am waiting for her to return,” she said.
Judge Dharmender Rana noted that the Delhi police had not produced any evidence to suggest that she subscribed to ‘secessionist’ ideas. In a strong bail judgment, the judge observed that the crime of sedition is not made out from sharing a ‘toolkit’ and only being the editor of an ‘innocuous’ toolkit is not an offence.
“Today's decision feels like a good start to many better decisions to come. We need this in order for the judiciary to uphold our democracy,” said Vineeth Vincent, Disha’s friend.
Disha’s one-day police custody ended on Tuesday, and though the Delhi police had filed a plea seeking four days of police custody, it was disposed of since bail was granted.
Disha Ravi was arrested on February 13 and charged with criminal conspiracy and sedition in connection to a probe into the Google document, called a ‘toolkit’, on the farmers’ protests. The ‘toolkit’ had been shared by global climate change activist Greta Thunberg on social media.
‘Toolkits’ are Word or Google documents that are frequently used to organise campaigns around social media or in planning protests. It typically includes basic information such as tweet suggestions, hashtags to amplify tweets, suggestions for tagging on social media etc. These kinds of documents are often used by individuals and groups, including political parties, to organise and mobilise crowds.