All India Students' Association (AISA) National president Neha Bora, with others, addresses a press conference at the CPI(ML) Liberation Parliamentary Office, in New Delhi on Saturday (October 24). Photo: PTI
‘We are not signing’: AISA chief Neha Bora rejects peace bond
The AISA president said she would attend proceedings before the special executive magistrate but would not furnish the bond, which she says curbs the right to dissent
All India Students’ Association (AISA) president Neha Bora on Saturday (October 24) said she would not furnish the Rs 10,000 peace bond demanded by the Delhi Police, a day after the Delhi High Court dismissed her petition challenging the preventive notice issued against her.
Addressing a press conference, Bora said signing the bond would amount to surrendering her democratic right to dissent. She also said AISA would not accept the practice of requiring student activists to execute peace bonds in connection with protests.
Bond refusal
“We don’t have any conditions. We are not signing,” Bora said, reiterating that she would participate in the proceedings before the special executive magistrate (SEM) but would not comply with conditions she considers an attempt to curb peaceful protest.
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Bora was detained on October 16 while on her way to join the ‘Leharo Do Tiranga’ march organised by CJP at Central Park in Connaught Place, Delhi. The protest was linked to alleged irregularities in the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. She was released the following day.
Following her detention, the SEM directed Bora to furnish a personal bond of Rs 10,000 with one surety to maintain peace during an inquiry. The police notice alleged that she had hoisted the national flag without the required permission.
High Court rejects plea
On October 23, Justice Subramonium Prasad of the Delhi High Court dismissed Bora’s petition challenging the preventive notice, holding that there was sufficient material to initiate preventive proceedings. However, the court directed the SEM to provide her with the relevant case materials and ensure that due process was followed.
During the hearing, Bora’s counsel argued that citizens did not require police permission to hoist the national flag, challenging the basis of the notice issued against her.
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Bora has described the preventive proceedings as a “colourable exercise” of power intended to suppress peaceful dissent. She has also argued that the action infringes on the fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution, which protect freedoms including expression and personal liberty.
‘Signing away the right to dissent’
Bora maintained that executing the bond would set a troubling precedent for student activism and democratic protest.
She said signing such a bond was “no less than signing away the democratic right to dissent” and asserted that AISA would not participate in normalising the practice of compelling student activists to furnish peace bonds.
Arguing that the preventive action contradicted the constitutional right to protest, Bora said she would continue to participate in the proceedings while refusing to sign the bond.