Jail Bharo Incident - Court Orders Release of Popular Front Members
Daijiworld Media Network – Bangalore (SB)
Bangalore, Aug 4: High Court (HC) on Monday August 3 ordered release of about 100 persons including Popular Front of India (PFI) members from Belgaum, who protested against recent Mysore violence stating that rules of law was not followed while remanding them to judicial custody.
Division bench comprising justice V Gopal Gowda and Bhaktavatsalam directed the authorities to release these persons after screening through the affidavit filed by Mysore city tahsildar Geeta Krishna as ordered by the HC. The court held that the executive magistrate of Mysore did not follow the guidelines required under Criminal Procedure Code and that the ordered suffered from procedural inadequacies.
However, court has given liberty to the authorities to proceed against these people in accordance with provisions if they are required to proceed upon in any other cases. The court further has asked PFI to furnish correct addresses of each person before the authorities.
It can be recalled here that the court had expressed its discontentment that out of 162 persons of the same community arrested 113 have not been released as yet. Tahsildar appearing on the court on Friday July 31 in her reply had said that case has been lodged against the protestors as they indulged in jail bharo without issuing any bond and claimed that she has the power to remand the protestors into judicial custody. She added that judicial custody was ordered based on the police report. HC had asked tahsildar to file an affidavit explaining under which rules of the law that 162 protestors were sent to judicial custody by Monday August 3.
The step by the court comes in the wake of Habeas Corpus petition filed by Noorjahan of Mysore and five others with regard to arrest of PFI members and thereby demanding the release of the arrested. Habeas Corpus filed in this regard claimed that tahsildar has no power to remand protestors into judicial custody.