The Toolkit Case has been a subject of media attention since February 14th since the arrest of Disha Ravi. After her arrest, Disha has been produced before the Delhi Court 3 times.
Facts
The farmer’s protests on receiving international attention saw the sharing of a toolkit by Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg. The later deleted tweet consisted of a toolkit that was a guide on peaceful protests. Alleging that the toolkit shared had pro-Khalistani links the Delhi police arrested few climate change activists. One of the arrested is Disha Ravi, a 21- year-old from Bangalore. On the grounds of arrest, she shared the document with Thunberg and edited it. She was arrested on the 14th of February from Bangalore and taken to Delhi where she was produced before the Court. The Court sentenced her to 5 days of police custody. After the completion of 5 days, she was produced before the Court again where she was sentenced to 3 days of judicial custody. Following this, she was produced before the Court and has been sentenced to 1 day of police custody for further interrogation. Amidst all this, Disha had filed a plea before the Delhi High Court regarding the privacy infringement she suffered when her private WhatsApp chats were leaked by the police to media where it was shared on public platforms.
Arguments
The counsel appearing for Ravi, Sidharth Agarwal stated that
“We all have different opinions. You may have a problem with farmers’ protest, I may not. If highlighting protest globally is sedition, I (Ravi) am better in jail. I (defence counsel) also support farmers. But if that’s an offence, let’s all go to jail.”
Advocate Agarwal also stated that there was no link between the toolkit and the farmer’s protests which took a violent turn on 26th January. The petitioner’s counsel, the Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing on behalf of the Delhi Police contended that the hyperlinks in the toolkit was linked to Khalistani websites. It was also contended that the toolkit advocated for Khalistani ideals.
“This was not just a toolkit. The real plan was to defame India and create unrest here,”
in the words of the counsel for the petitioner. It was also argued that Ravi had deleted WhatsApp messages, chats and other data as she was aware of its legal implications. The petitioner also pleaded that the Court sentence Ravi to 5 days of police custody for further interrogation as she had shifted blame on co-accused Nikita Jacob and Shantanu Muluk during initial questioning.
Court Order
The Patiala House Court ordered Disha Ravi to be sent to police custody for one day. The Court denied the police’s request for 5 day’s custody for interrogation. The Court order is following Disha’s 3 days of judicial custody. The Court further reserved to hear Ravi’s bail plea for February 23.
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