A Delhi court on Monday ordered climate activist Disha Ravi in police custody for one day in connection with the Greta Thunberg toolbox case.
The Patiala House Court has rejected the Delhi police’s request for five days’ custody of the 22-year-old.
In requesting a five-day extension of Ravi’s police custody, the prosecutor argued that the activist had been evasive during questioning and blamed co-defendants Shantanu Muluk and Nikita Jacob.
Last Friday, the trial court had sent Ravi into judicial custody for three days after his five-day police custody expired.
On Saturday, during a hearing on Ravi’s bail statement, Additional Attorney General SV Raju, who appeared for the Delhi Police, told the court that hyperlinks in the toolkit connected people to the websites of Khalistani who spread hatred towards India.
“This was not just a toolkit. The real plan was to smear India and create riots here, ”he said.
Opposing Ravi’s release on bail, the police alleged that she was preparing the toolkit with the Khalistan defenders. He alleged that Ravi deleted WhatsApp chats, emails and other evidence and was aware of the legal action he could face.
In response to the allegations, the lawyer for climate activist Siddharth Agarwal told the Delhi court that “if highlighting the farmers’ protest globally is sedition, she is better off in jail.
Ravi’s lawyer further claimed that there is no evidence linking the toolkit to violence during the farmers’ march on January 26. He also questioned the content of the FIR.
“We all have different opinions. You may have a problem with the farmers’ protest, I may not. If highlighting the protest worldwide is sedition, I (Ravi) am better off in jail. I (defense attorney) also support farmers. But if that’s a crime, let’s all go to jail, “said defense attorney Sidharth Agarwal.
Delhi police had argued that the 22-year-old should be thoroughly investigated because “she was aware of the criminality of her actions.” Police told the court that the investigation will reveal the “sinister plan to smear India”.
The court has reserved the order on Disha’s bail statement for February 23.
Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana had posed some scathing questions to the investigative agency during the hearing on Ravi’s guilty plea, asking if he was only acting on “guesswork, inferences, and conjecture” and questioning how the toolkit was related to violence during farmers. ‘ March.
“… Unless I satisfy my conscience, I will not move on,” the judge had said.
Ravi was arrested by a Cyber Cell team from Bengaluru’s Delhi Police on Saturday in connection with the toolkit supporting farmers’ agitation. Police have claimed that she had sent the toolkit to Thunberg via the Telegram app, and also “convinced her to act.”
Delhi Police have alleged that Ravi was the “key conspirator” in formulating and disseminating the document and that he collaborated with the pro-Jalistani Poetic Justice Foundation to “spread discontent against the Indian state” and also shared the document. with Thunberg.
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