Toolkit case: Relief for Disha Ravi as Delhi Court grants her bail, asks her pay Rs 1 lakh as bond

A Delhi court has granted bail to climate activist Disha Ravi in the toolkit case on Tuesday. Delhi Police had taken Disha into custody on February 13 from her house in Bengaluru. Judge Dharmendra Rana granted her bail and asked Ravi to pay Rs 1 lakh as bond with sureties of the same amount. Reportedly, Disha’s defence counsel informed the court that the bail bond was high and her family cannot afford it.

On Monday, a Delhi Court had sent Disha to police remand for one-day. According to reports, the Delhi Police had sought five-day remand at the Patiala House Court. While opposing her bail plea, the Delhi Police’s counsel said they wanted to interrogate Disha with the other two accused as she allegedly blamed them during her questioning.

On February 20, Disha’s bail hearing took place at a Delhi Court. During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, representing the Delhi Police, kept claiming that Disha was connected to Khalistani organisations, however, Disha’s advocate Siddharth Agarwal submitted that she had no connection with them. “I’m 22 years old, living in Bengaluru. My history has nothing to do with Khalistan,” Disha told the court through her lawyer. “They have not indicated a single conversation between Sikhs for Justice and her. They don’t even say that Sikhs for Justice is connected to the Poetic Justice Foundation,” her lawyer added.

During the hearing, the prosecution claimed that Disha is a member of the Poetic Justice Foundation (PJF), which is allegedly connected to the banned-Khalistani group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), therefore making Disha an accomplice in Khalistani activities. “If I meet someone in some context, how am I to know that they are secessionists? He may be a secessionist in one aspect of his life and not in others,” Disha’s counsel told the court.

Advocate Agarwal told the court that the ‘toolkit’ has no disaffection. “The communication should have the ability to cause disaffection. The toolkit has no disaffection,” he said, adding, “Today prosecution says it’s not in the toolkit. It will be found elsewhere because these people are bad. This is not sedition.” Moreover, Disha’s counsel added that the police FIR states that she has attacked yoga and chai. “Is this the parameter for sedition?” he asked.

While the Delhi Police told the court that Disha might have allegedly used other devices and her WhatsApp number to make the group, Disha told the court, “I was remanded for five days. I am extremely surprised by the submissions that there could be more devices. You [police] didn’t take me to Bengaluru, not even once, for searching.”

Earlier, the Delhi Police said that Disha is “one of the editors of the Toolkit Google Doc and a key conspirator in the document’s formulation and dissemination.” According to them, she started a WhatsApp group and collaborated to make the Toolkit doc. She worked closely with them to draft the document.