The Rouse Avenue Court on Tuesday granted bail to several Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders including MP Derek O Bryan, Sagarika Ghosh and Saket Gokhale in connection with their protests outside the Election Commission (ECI) of India earlier this year. Nine of the ten summoned leaders appeared individually, while Vivek Gupta joined the proceedings through video conferencing. Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Neha Mittal bails five current MPs on a personal bond of Rs 10,000, while the remaining accused were released on a personal bond of Rs 10,000 and on a bail.
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The court said that since the charge sheet was filed without any arrest, all the accused were given bail. Except for Gupta’s case, bail and personal bond were introduced and accepted. The next hearing of the case will be held on 21 May. The case relates to an incident on 8 April 2024, when TMC leaders allegedly staged a protest outside the main gate of ECI in Delhi, violating prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CRPC.
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According to the prosecution, the leaders refused to disperse despite repeated warnings, after which an FIR was lodged. On April 21, the court issued summons to ten leaders including MP Mohammad Nadeemul Haque, Dola Sen and others after taking cognizance of the chargesheet and complaint filed by Delhi Police. The court said that it had received sufficient grounds to proceed under Section 188 (disobedience of the order of public servant), 145 (involvement in the illegal meeting) and 34 (general intent) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
