New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has granted bail to Safoora Zargar, whose imprisonment on charges of instigating riots had triggered global outrage.
The Delhi High Court today directed Safoora Zargar to not take part in activities that may hamper the investigation. She also cannot leave Delhi without permission.
Ms. Zargar must stay in touch with a Probing Officer on the phone at least once in 15 days and provide a personal bond of Rs 10,000.
“We are thankful to the courts. I also thank our lawyers for their efforts. The family is eagerly looking forward to meeting her,” her husband Saboor Sirwal said.
The student of M. Phil at Jamia university is a five-month pregnant. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, which represents the police, did not oppose her bail on compassionate grounds. Mr. Mehta said she can be released on regular bail on humanitarian grounds, but a decision had not been taken on the merits of the case and should not be made a precedent.
The government, which had objected to all her bail pleas so far, said it would not oppose it this time on “humanitarian grounds”.
Ms. Zargar, a member of the Jamia Coordination Committee, had gone to the High Court after a trial court denied her bail on Thursday.
Ms. Zargar was granted bail in the case after she was initially arrested. But later she was arrested once more and more serious charges were imposed on her, according to the Jamia Coordination Committee. She was accused of inciting people and bringing women and children to the streets in Jafrabad to cause riots.
The student’s lawyer told the court during arguments that she was in a delicate state and a quite advanced stage of pregnancy.
She was more than three months pregnant when she was arrested in April.
Police called her a “key conspirator” in anti-Muslim riots that swept Delhi in February, in which 53 people died.
Ms. Zargar’s family denied the charges, saying that she had only been a part of demonstrations against the controversial citizenship law.
However, Ms. Zargar was charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) – a draconian law that makes it nearly impossible for the accused to get bail.
Her arrest and imprisonment triggered strong condemnation by students and activists and sharply divided social media.
Ms. Zargar is among several Muslim students and activists who have been jailed since India’s lockdown began on 25 March, leading to accusations that the government is using the pandemic to crackdown on free speech and dissent.
As a member of the Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC), a student group at her university, she had been active in organizing the peaceful demonstrations against the Citizenship Amendment Act in north-east Delhi. Critics of the law have said that it is discriminating against Muslims.