Disha Ravi, the Bengaluru-based climate activist who was arrested for making edits to the toolkit shared by the Swedish environment activist Greta Thunberg regarding the ongoing farmers’ protest, was granted bail on Tuesday by a Delhi court, reported Live Law.
The verdict was passed by Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana of Patiala House Court Complex. Ravi was granted bail on the condition of furnishing two sureties of Rs 1 lakh each.
Ravi, the 21-year-old climate activist who is also the co-founder of climate campaign organisation Fridays For Future, was arrested on February 14 by the Cyber Prevention Awareness Detection of Delhi Police Special Cell from Bengaluru. She was remanded to five-days police custody by the Patiala House court.
On February 19, she was sent to three-days judicial custody by a Delhi court which ended on Monday, following which she was again remanded one-day custody.
Ravi was accused of making edits to the toolkit (a social media document or booklet which explains an issue or cause) that was shared by Thunberg, who was one of the several international icons to express solidarity with the protesting farmers that caught global attention. The farmers have been protesting peacefully in Delhi’s borders for several months against the three Farm Bills passed by the Centre in its 2020 monsoon session.
The Delhi Police had lodged a First Information Report against the creators of the toolkit, alleging that it was a conspiracy by an organisation “calling itself the Poetic Justice Foundation, a Khalistani group” to “defame” the Indian government on the global platform. They also alleged that the January 26 violence at the Red Fort was a consequence of the content in the toolkit.
During the three-hour-long hearing on February 20, the Delhi Police failed to produce any evidence that could prove a direct link between Ravi and the actions that led to the January 26 violence. Ravi’s lawyer pointed out that two other accused and arrested in the case– Mumbai-based lawyer Nikita Jacob and activist Shantanu Muluk- had already been granted bail the week prior to the hearing that day.