Student who faces sedition charges over slogan at anti-CAA event gets bail

Amulya Leona, who raised ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans at an anti-CAA rally at Bengaluru’s Freedom Park in February has been granted bail by default after the state failed to submit a chargesheet within the stipulated time.

Ms. Leona’s advocate, Prasanna R, told NDTV 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 chargesheet 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 chargesheet on June 3,” the lawyer said.

On Wednesday, the bail plea of 19-year-old Amulya Leona, had been rejected by the 60th additional city civil and sessions judge, Vidyadhar Shirahatti, who observed that the probe has not been completed and the investigation officer has not yet filed the charge sheet.

Student activist and college student, Amulya Leona, had raised pro-Pakistan slogans during the protest meeting against CAA, NRC and NPR organised by Hindu Muslim Sikh Isaai Federation on February 20.

All India Majilis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president and its Lok Sabha member from Hyderabad, Asauddin Owaisi, who was present on the occasion, tried to stop the gritty Amulya from repeating the pro-Pakistan slogan. The dramatic incident occurred when Amulya was called on the dais to address the gathering in protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) under the banner of “Save Our Constitution”.

Amulya was then detained by the Karnataka Police, which arrested and produced her before a local magistrate court after which she was sent to 14-day judicial custody on sedition charges under Section 125A of the IPC.

Related News: 100 days on, justice elusive for those arrested during anti-CAA protests

On February 16, Amulya had written a post on Facebook in Kannada which her friends said was the actual speech she wanted to deliver at the protest rally. Below is the English translation.

“Hindustan Zindabad. Pakistan Zindabad. Bangladesh Zindabaad. Srilanka Zindabad. Nepal Zindabaad. Afghanistan Zindabad. China zindabad. Bhutan zindabad.

Whichever country it is – zindabad to all countries.

You teach the children that a nation is it’s soil. We children are telling you – nation means it is its people. All people should get their basic facilities. All of them should be able to avail of their fundamental rights. Governments should take care of the people of these countries. Zindabad to everyone who serves the people.

I don’t become a part of a different nation just because I say zindabad to that nation. As per law, I am an Indian citizen. It is my duty to respect my nation and work for the people of the country. I will do that. Let us see what these RSS guys will do.

The Sanghis will get annoyed by this. Start your series of comments. What I have to say I will say,” the post read.

“I think she (Amulya Leona) wanted to talk about what she had written on Facebook, but unfortunately she started with ‘Pakistan Zindabad’, which she shouldn’t have done,” said a friend of Amulya.

Earlier, opposing the bail petition, the prosecution argued that by raising the pro-Pakistan slogan several times, the woman has attempted to create animosity between different communities and has affected the unity and integrity of the nation.

“If the petitioner is released on bail, she may abscond or she may be involved in a similar offence, which affects the peace at large,” said judge Shirahatti, who had earlier rejected the bail plea.

Related News: ‘Pakistan zindabad’: Woman at Owaisi rally says there’s a difference