A Mumbai court on 5 February rejected the anticipatory bail plea of a 22-year-old student at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Urvashi Chudawala who is facing a sedition case for ‘shouting slogan’ in support of JNU student Sharjeel Imam.
As per reports, during a rally of the Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender-Queer community at Azad Maidan, Urvashi exclaimed a slogan “Sharjeel Tere Sapno Ko Hum Manzil Tak Pahuchaege” (Sharjeel, we will realize your dreams).
The Mumbai court bench headed by Additional sessions Judge Prashant Rajvaidya also refused to grant the applicant interim protection from arrest to enable her to move the high court stating that she was supporting a person who is officially an enemy of the state.
Around 50 others were also booked under sections 124 (A) (sedition), 153 (B) (Imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration), 505 (statement conducing to public mischief) and 34 (Common Intention) of the Indian penal code.
However, Vijay Hiremath the lawyer appearing for Urvashi stated that “There was only one line, which was said only once…has it done any harm? It is not sedition at all.”
However, the Chief Public Prosecutor Jaisingh Desai argued that Urvashi had shared a post in support of Imam on social media a day before the rally, which she deleted later.
Sharjeel Imam was arrested by the Delhi Police in January after several states filed sedition cases against him for his anti-CAA speech in which he allegedly spoke about “cutting off the Northeast from India” by blocking roads and railway tracks.
“The intent of the statement uttered by the applicant in support of Imam, in my opinion, prima facie attracts ingredients of 124A (sedition) of the Indian Penal Code,” Additional Sessions Judge Rajvaidya stated while rejecting the anticipatory bail of Urvashi.
