NEW DELHI: A Special Executive Magistrate (SEM) at the Mandir Marg police station on Saturday furnished All India Students’ Association (AISA) president Neha Bora with all documents police relied upon to issue her a notice that required her to sign a peace bond , a day after the Delhi High Court dismissed her petition challenging proceedings over the bond.
During the proceedings, Delhi Police’s legal consultants Prashant Prakash and Bhagwan Dass argued that Bora had continuously been making media appearances, claiming that she would refuse to sign the peace bond, and contended that such public statements and stances jeopardised the ongoing legal proceedings. “The high court has dismissed the challenge to the show-cause notice. However, it has laid down important parameters, stating that all material relied upon to suggest a possible breach of peace must be provided to us. The high court had upheld that preventive measures under Chapter IX of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) are aimed at maintaining public order and that the SEM had sufficient material before initiating action.
The police documents and material relied upon to issue the notice include a kalandara (police report) dated October 17, consisting of three general diary entries registered at different police stations that law enforcement authorities cited to establish an apprehension of a breach of peace.
Advocate Abhik Chimni, representing Bora, said the defence would examine the material before responding to the notice at the next hearing. We will examine them before the next hearing on the 29th,” Chimni said. Today, we showed the judgment to the SEM, who gave us all the documents.
With the legal hurdles cleared following the high court’s verdict, Bora is now required to respond to the show cause notice and formally present her case, listing out reasons why she should not be directed to execute the peace bond during the next hearing, scheduled for October 28. “The courts will determine that the execution and interpretation of the peace bond contradicts our fundamental right to democratic dissent. We will challenge it in court. This legal battle is crucial to ensure that ongoing and future peaceful street protests are not construed as a breach of peace.”
Bora, at a press conference at the Communist Party of India (ML) Liberation Parliamentary Office in Meena Bagh, said.
