Desire to end hostilities with Pakistan, return to peace not ‘sedition’: Himachal Pradesh High Court grants bail

Noting that the accused chatted with someone, and both of them criticised the hostilities between India and Pakistan, the court said that they advocated that all people, irrespective of their religion, should stay together, and that the war serves no fruitful purpose.

“It is difficult to see how a desire to end the hostilities and a return to peace can amount to sedition”, the court added.

The court also pointed out that the FIR contained no allegation of “hatred or discontent” directed towards the government, and that no “prohibited weapon” was recovered from the petitioner.

The pen drive containing the images and videos was perused by the court, along with the data extracted from the petitioner’s mobile phone and his chat history.

Justice Kainthla further observed that merely posting images of prohibited arms bearing the “name of a person” does not amount to sedition, particularly when no prohibited weapon was recovered from the petitioner.

Talking about raising the slogan of “Khalistan Zindabad”, the court said that it was unable to locate any such slogan in the data extracted from the petitioner’s mobile phone and also emphasised that even if it was assumed to be true, raising such a slogan did not amount to any offence, relying on a Supreme Court order.

Arguments

Appearing for the petitioner, advocate Sanjeev Kumar Suri, prayed for the release of his client, saying that the police have filed the charge sheet, and that no fruitful purpose would be served by detaining him in custody.

Representing the state, deputy advocate general Prashant Sen submitted that the petitioner was involved in anti-national activities and was in touch with Pakistani Nationals.

He further added that the offence is “grave” and prayed for the dismissal of his bail petition.

Bail conditions

The court granted bail to Bhardwaj with the following conditions:

• Not to intimidate the witnesses, nor influence any evidence.
• Should attend the trial on every hearing and not seek unnecessary adjournments
• Do not leave the present address for a continuous period of seven days without furnishing the address of the intended visit to the concerned court and police.
• Surrender the passport, if any, to the concerned court
• Provide the police and the court with his mobile number and social media contact information, and comply with the summons/notices received from the police/court.
• Any change in mobile number or social media should be reported to the police and court within five days.

Justice Kainthla also instructed that if the petitioner violates any of these conditions, the prosecution will have the right to file a plea for cancellation of his bail.