Sedition case: After HC prod, Lawyers seek bail for Jammu and Kashmir students

On Friday, a team of Lawyers from Bengaluru submitted applications in the District & Sessions Court here, seeking bail for 3 Kashmiri engineering students, who were charged with sedition on Feb 15 for allegedly raising pro-Pakistan & ‘azadi’ (freedom) slogans in their Hubballi hostel 

The case was filed after a purported video containing their act went viral.

The Lawyers submitted the bail applications to the Court administrative officer. The District Judge will decide on the jurisdiction Court before considering the applications. To avoid public glare, Police let them into the Court hall from the backdoor. After filing the bail applications, the Lawyers walked out from the front gate amid tight security. 

The development comes a day after the High Court of Karnataka said that a senior member of the Hubballi Bar Association (HBA) or its Dharwad counterpart (DBA) should argue the case on behalf of the Kashmiri students to uphold the best traditions of the legal profession. However, the Advocates who finally filed the bail pleas are from Bengaluru.

DBA, which had opposed the Bengaluru Lawyers appearing for the accused students on Monday following an HBA resolution, chose not to resist their entry into the court on Friday. HBA had on Feb 15 passed the resolution barring its members from appearing on behalf of the accused students & requesting members of other bars to follow suit.

Police, who had come under the High Court scanner after unruly scenes erupted during the Bengaluru Lawyers’ visit to the Court on Monday, had imposed prohibitory orders around the court premises on Friday. More than 500 personnel & half-a-dozen escort vehicles were on the court premises during the visit of the Bengaluru Lawyers.

After the High Court rap, Police had requested the Court administrative officer to enable the Lawyers of the accused to move their bail applications during lunch hours. The applications were submitted at 2:30 pm.

Earlier in the day, the Lawyers were escorted to the Hindalga jail in Belagavi by the Hubballi-Dharwad police to meet the Kashmiri students lodged there. The jail authorities permitted the advocates to take signature of the accused on Vakalathnama.

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