The Punjab and Harayana High Court in, Naudeep Kaur v. the State of Harayana granted bail to the activist Naudeep Kaur. Naudeep Kaur along with some workers was making a peaceful protest outside the factory premises of M/s Shahran Elecmech Private Limited over the issue of non-payment of wages to some of the laborers.
Although the accused contended that the protests were fairly peaceful, the state has contended that the protests did turn violent and in the process of violence, police personnel were attacked and injured.
Accused argued that two FIRs were registered in the case pertaining to that day and the accused has been granted bail in the first FIR and the present FIR was just a mere extension of the previous FIR. Further, it was contended that there is no specific injury attributed to the petitioner for invoking Section 307 IPC.
After perusal of the arguments and the evidence on record the HC while granting bail relied on Anita Thakur and others Versus Govt. of J&K and others where it was held that peaceful protest is a fundamental right and is subject to reasonable restriction. The HC stated, “It would be appropriate to say that the right to peaceful protest is circumscribed by a thin line. The crossing of the line may change the color of protest. It would be the subject matter of trial as to whether the line for the peaceful protest was crossed in the alleged incident or not”
The 23-year old activist has been lodged in Harayana’s Karnal Jail.
The Punjab and Harayana HC took suo-moto cognizance of the matter on 12th February over the furor of the illegal confinement of the Mazdoor Adhikar Sangathan. The arrest attracted widespread criticism and personalities such as US Vice President Kamala Harris' niece, Meena Harris tweeted about the issue. Ones who showed concern over the matter of arrest include stalwarts and political organization. Twitter even saw a floodgate of tweets with the hashtag #ReleaseNodeepKaur.
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