‘Nothing to show membership of radical Naxalite units’: Delhi court grants bail to 10 in India Gate protest
The court was hearing the bail pleas of 12 protesters, mostly Delhi University (DU) students, who participated in the protest against air pollution at India Gate on November 24.
A Delhi court on Tuesday granted bail to 10 accused in the India Gate air pollution protest case, in which “slogans in favour of Naxalites” were allegedly raised and police personnel were attacked and “injured”.
“… CCTV footage and video clips of the incident/protest are already available to investigating agency. The mobile phones of the accused have been seized… Nothing has been discovered against the accused qua the membership of radical organisations related to Naxalites,” said Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) Aridaman Singh Cheema of Patiala House Court in his order.
The court was hearing the bail pleas of 12 protesters, mostly Delhi University (DU) students, who participated in the protest against air pollution at India Gate on November 24. While 10 were granted bail on Tuesday, the bail plea of one was rejected. The plea of another protester is pending.
Regarding the bail plea that was rejected, JMFC Cheema said, “… the investigation is pending regarding the identification of other members of RSU (Radical Students Union, a banned Naxal organisation) who had conspired for transforming the protest of pollution into the support of (Naxal commander Madvi) Hidma.”
“In view of the involvement of accused with RSU… a frontal organisation of Naxals, I am of the view that accused should not be released on bail at this stage, as the accused is likely to commit offences of similar nature, may try to inform other members of RSU,” he added.
The case
Two FIRs were lodged at Parliament Street police station and Kartavya Path police station against the protesters on charges related to assault, obstruction of public servants and outraging the modesty of women police personnel.
While 17 were initially named in the Parliament Street police station FIR, they were subsequently arrested in the Kartavya Path police station FIR as well.
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All the 17 accused booked in the Parliament Street police station FIR – linked to an alleged scuffle between the protesters and the police personnel – are currently out on bail.
The Kartavya Path police station FIR was lodged in relation to the alleged recovery of pepper spray used to attack police personnel and “Naxal links” of protesters. While 13 protesters booked in this case are still in judicial custody, the bail pleas of 12 are likely to be decided in the coming week.
The Delhi Police had told the court that WhatsApp chats of some protesters showed that “they paid tribute to Hidma and condemned his encounter”. The police have also said that on the phone of one protester was an alleged text message where it was stated that Hidma was a “hero and not a Naxalite”.
The protestors were mostly DU students reportedly associated with the Bhagat Singh Chhatra Ekta Manch (BSCEM) and Himkhand, an environmental research and action collective. According to police, the main conspirator is the BSCEM president, who was allegedly the admin of the WhatsApp group that organised the protest.
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Police have also claimed that the BSCEM president, along with two others, raised slogans in favor of RSU on the anniversary of the group in Hyderabad.
Nirbhay Thakur is a Senior Correspondent with The Indian Express who primarily covers district courts in Delhi and has reported on the trials of many high-profile cases since 2023.
Professional Background
Education: Nirbhay is an economics graduate from Delhi University.
Beats: His reporting spans the trial courts, and he occasionally interviews ambassadors and has a keen interest in doing data stories.
Specializations: He has a specific interest in data stories related to courts.
Core Strength: Nirbhay is known for tracking long-running legal sagas and providing meticulous updates on high-profile criminal trials.
Recent notable articles
In 2025, he has written long form articles and two investigations. Along with breaking many court stories, he has also done various exclusive stories.
1) A long form on Surender Koli, accused in the Nithari serial killings of 2006. He was acquitted after spending 2 decades in jail. was a branded man. Deemed the “cannibal" who allegedly lured children to his employer’s house in Noida, murdered them, and “ate their flesh” – his actions cited were cited as evidence of human depravity at its worst. However, the SC acquitted him finding various lapses in the investigation. The Indian Express spoke to his lawyers and traced the 2 decades journey.
2) For decades, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has been at the forefront of the Government’s national rankings, placed at No. 2 over the past two years alone. It has also been the crucible of campus activism, its protests often spilling into national debates, its student leaders going on to become the faces and voices of political parties of all hues and thoughts. The Indian Express looked at all court cases spanning over two decades and did an investigation.
3) Investigation on the 700 Delhi riots cases. The Indian Express found that in 17 of 93 acquittals (which amounted to 85% of the decided cases) in Delhi riots cases, courts red-flag ‘fabricated’ evidence and pulled up the police.
Signature Style
Nirbhay’s writing is characterized by its procedural depth. He excels at summarizing 400-page chargesheets and complex court orders into digestible news for the general public.
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