‘Shame that they were denied bail’: Kapil Sibal questions government, judiciary over ex-TISS students' case

Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament MP Kapil Sibal on Monday said it was a shame that two former Tata Institute of Social Sciences TISS students were denied anticipatory bail by a Mumbai court claiming that the development reflected the governments intolerance as well as the state of the judiciary news agency PTI reportedA court in Mumbai on August 7 denied anticipatory bail to two former TISS students facing criminal cases for allegedly holding an unauthorised campus gathering to pay homage to former Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba and raising slogans seeking the release of undertrial prisoners Umar Khalid and Sharjeel ImamAdditional Sessions Judge VB Bohra granted prearrest bail to seven other students in the caseIn a post on X Sibal said ExTISS Students Shame that they were denied anticipatory bail Allegedly Raised slogans seeking release of Umar Khalid amp Sharjeel Imam In jail since 2020What does this tell you about 1 Governments level of intolerance 2 The police 3 State of the judiciary the Independent Rajya Sabha MP saidExTISS StudentsShame that they were denied anticipatory bailAllegedly Raised slogans seeking release of Umar Khalid amp Sharjeel ImamIn jail since 2020What does this tell you about 1Governmentrsquos level of intolerance 2The police3State of the judiciary mdash Kapil Sibal KapilSibal August 10 2026The court stated that while paying homage to Saibaba who was acquitted by the Bombay High Court in a Naxalismrelated case before his death was not illegal raising slogans in support of undertrials booked in a Unlawful Activities Prevention Act UAPA case at an educational institute raises doubts about the conduct of the accused Kamakhya Das 23 and Abhirup Paul 32Court says slogans and seized material raise doubts over exTISS studentsrsquo conductThe court also noted that phrases such as Rest in Peace are generally used while paying homage to deceased personsHowever the accused students allegedly used the words Rest in Power 1967 ForeverThe act coupled with the material found with them certainly raises doubt about their conduct the judge remarked in separate orders denying relief to the two former TISS studentsThe court granted anticipatory bail to seven other students Uttkarsh Khuntia Yash Kaundilya Avantika Ishpreet Kaur Nikita Monica DSouza Hardika Bhagat and Satyam YadavTheir custodial interrogation was not required as they had cooperated with the investigation the court saidThe alleged incident occurred on October 12 last year when a group of 10 to 12 students gathered in front of the hostel at TISS without prior permission from the administrationPolice cite Maoist literature alleged activities while opposing bail for two exTISS studentsAccording to police the students paid homage to Saibaba on his death anniversary by arranging his photographs lighting candles reading his poems and displaying the message Rest in Power since 1967 foreverThe group also raised slogans demanding the release of Khalid and Imam who are currently in jail under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act UAPAThe complaint was initially lodged by an associate dean of TISS at the Trombay police station and the probe was later transferred to the Crime Investigation Department CIDWhile denying prearrest bail to Das and Paul the court noted that downloaded books published by members of the banned Communist Party of India Maoist were found on electronic gadgets including laptops and mobile phones seized from their possessionThe court said mere downloading of such books would not amount to an offenceHowever the investigation revealed that Paul a member of the Progressive Students Forum had visited several places for field work as indicated by his WhatsApp chats and allegedly tried to change the mindset of other students to implement Maoist ideology the court saidCourt says custodial interrogation needed to ascertain students intentThe books though not banned by the government reportedly instigated division of India the court saidDas and Paul allegedly deleted certain information from their devices while Das also allegedly threatened a police officer that he would be removed from service the court saidThus their custodial interrogation was necessary to ascertain their intention in downloading the books and raising the slogans the court saidWith PTI inputs