HC interim protection to ex-TISS student for slogans supporting Umar Khalid

The Bombay High Court on Friday granted interim protection from arrest to former Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) student Kamakhya Prasad Das in a case over alleged inflammatory slogans supporting jailed activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam.

Das approached the high court after a sessions court rejected his plea for anticipatory bail. Justice Prafulla S. Khubalkar extended the interim protection granted by the sessions court until 31 August, the next date of hearing, and directed Das to join the investigation on 19 and 24 August.

The prosecution alleges that Das and other students commemorated the first death anniversary of former Delhi University professor G.N. Saibaba on the TISS campus in October 2025 without permission, during which slogans supporting Khalid and Imam were raised.

Khalid and Imam are accused under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in connection with the alleged conspiracy behind the 2020 northeast Delhi riots.

A case was registered against Das, Abhirup Paul and others under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita relating to unlawful assembly and obstruction of public servants, besides provisions of the Maharashtra Police Act concerning violation of prohibitory orders and police directions.

Paul was subsequently arrested and is currently in judicial custody. In his plea, Das denied that any student had raised objectionable slogans at the event. His lawyers, advocates Mihir Desai and Vijay Hiremath, argued that his role was limited to attending the programme.

Desai submitted that young people or members of Gen Z could sometimes get "a little hot-headed" and make statements they might not fully understand, but previous court judgments had held that such conduct did not necessarily warrant arrest.

While rejecting Das's anticipatory bail plea, the sessions court had noted that books published by members of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) were allegedly found on his electronic devices.

The high court's order on Friday does not finally decide the allegations against Das but gives him interim protection from arrest while requiring him to cooperate with the investigation.

With PTI inputs