Nodeep Kaur, Activist Arrested For Delhi Border Protest, Gets Bail

Dalit labour activist Nodeep Kaur, who was arrested on January 12 from a labourers' protest at Kundli border point, was today granted bail by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in an attempt to murder case. She has been lodged in a Karnal jail in Haryana. Ms Kaur had accused the police of sexual assault under custody, but the allegation was denied by authorities.

The court will consider separately her allegation of illegal confinement by the police, her advocate Harinder Deep Singh Bains told media persons today following the court order. It will also look at her medical records at a different date, he said.  

"The court has said that there was nothing on record with regards to section 360. Therefore the High Court has ordered bail for Ms Kaur," Mr Bains said. "It is with a restraint that no law and order situation be created. That is the only restriction."

The court of Justice Avneesh Jhingan did not comment on the video recording produced in a pen drive by the prosecution. Citing precedent, it said whether the thin line circumscribing the right to peaceful protest was crossed by the bail applicant was a matter of trial. It also dubbed as "debatable" the material placed on record before the court by the police to invoke various sections of the CrPC against Ms Kaur.

"The petitioner is in custody since 12.01.2021. Albeit the matter is under investigation but that itself would not be sufficient ground to deny personal liberty to the petitioner," the court said.    

Ms Kaur was arrested over a labour protest demanding higher wages, which coincided with the ongoing farmers' agitation against three new central laws and was also in solidarity with it. The Kundli border point between Delhi and Haryana is among the many where the protesting farmers have camped up over the past many months.

Following arrest, the Muktsar native faced a slew of charges: murder, extortion, theft, rioting, unlawful assembly, extortion, and criminal intimidation. She was later granted bail in two cases of extortion and criminal intimidation.

On Wednesday, the court had adjourned her case upon finding that all her medical reports had not been placed on record by the state. The court had earlier registered a suo motu case over her "illegal confinement".

Her case gained international attention on February 6 when Meena Harris, niece of US Vice-President Kamala Harris, tweeted saying, "23-year-old labour rights activist Nodeep Kaur was arrested, tortured and sexually assaulted in police custody." Her tweet carried images of a mob in India burning her own photo and another of a masked woman holding up a poster demanding Ms Kaur's release.

The Dalit activist's sister, Rajveer Kaur, later alleged that Ms Kaur "has been beaten up in the police station by male staff and has even been sexually assaulted. There are injuries in her private parts. There should be strict action."