Delhi riots: Hours after HC relief, sessions court defers release of students

A court in New Delhi on Tuesday deferred immediate release of Jawaharlal Nehru University students Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal, who have been granted bail by the Delhi high court in the riots 'conspiracy' case, from jail and sought a verification report from the police by Wednesday.

Following the grant of bail by the high court, Kalita and Narwal moved the court through their seeking immediate release from judicial custody.

Additional Sessions Judge Revinder Bedi disposed of the application and asked the police to submit the verification report on the particulars of the accused and sureties by 1 pm on June 16.

Earlier in the day, the high court set aside the trial court orders denying bail to Narwal, Kalita and Jamia student Asif Iqbal Tanha.

The women activists moved the court through advocate Adit S Pujari seeking immediate release from judicial custody.

The high court granted them bail and directed them to furnish a personal bond of Rs 50,000 each along with two sureties of the like amount.

The three student activists were arrested in May 2020 and are accused of being the "masterminds" of the February 2020 violence, which had left 53 people dead and hundreds injured. Narwal, along with 17 others, are accused in the case.

Communal violence broke out in northeast Delhi on February 24 last year after violence between supporters of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and those opposing it spiralled out of control, leaving at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured.