Activist Shantanu Muluk Gets Transit Anticipatory Bail In Toolkit Case

Activist Shantanu Muluk, one of the three main accused in the "Toolkit" case, has received interim protection from arrest. Mr Muluk, against whom the Delhi Police had issue a non-bailable arrest warrant, has got a transit anticipatory bail from the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court.

The Delhi Police has accused activists Shantanu Muluk, Nikita Jacob and Disha Ravi of "spreading disaffection against the Indian state" by creating the "Toolkit" document - shared earlier this month on Twitter by Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg in support of the ongoing farmers' protest - in collaboration with the pro-Khalistani group Poetic Justice Foundation.

While Ms Ravi, a 22-year-old climate activist, was arrested on last Saturday, non-bailable warrants against Mr Muluk and lawyer-activist Nikita Jacob were issued yesterday.

Mr Jacob had filed an anticipatory bail on Monday. The order over her bail request has been reserved till tomorrow. Sources say the Delhi Police has assured her lawyer that no coercive action will be taken against her until the court rules on her application.

On Monday, the Delhi Police alleged that Mr Muluk, Disha Ravi and Nikita Jacob had created the document and passed it on to others for editing.

A Canada-based woman, Puneet, had got the three in touch with the banned group, the police claimed. They later had a Zoom meeting on January 11 in which they discussed generating social media buzz for the farmers' tractor rally on Republic Day.

Several opposition leaders -- including Congress's Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Kapil Sibal, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Delhi Chief Arvind Kejriwal - have slammed the central government over Disha Ravi's arrest.

Over 300 alumni of Mount Carmel College in Bengaluru have written a letter of support and condemned the arrest of fellow alumnus Disha Ravi by the Delhi Police.