SC Stays Bail for Anti-CAA Protesters in Mangaluru

Independent fact-finding reports had claimed police had tried to cover police atrocities.

Protesters had defied the prohibitory orders in place in Mangaluru. Prohibitory orders are in place in five police station areas in Karnataka.

(Photo: The Quint)

The Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde and two others on the bench, has stayed the bail of 21 persons who were named in the Mangaluru police firing case. The case is regarding the anti-CAA protests in Mangaluru, on December 19, 2019. Two people, unrelated to the protest, were shot dead in a violent push back by the police, reports found.

The Karnataka High Court had granted bail to the 21 accused in the case, as the February 18 order noted that the police had used excess force to rein in the protests. "The records indicate that a deliberate attempt has been made to fabricate evidence and to deprive the petitioners of their liberties. Any criminal antecedents of the petitioners are not disputed... There is no direct evidence to connect the petitioners with the alleged offences. The investigation appears to be mala fide and partisan,” the court had observed.

An independent fact-finding report had also formed similar conclusions.

However, this order was challenged by the Karnataka government in the Supreme Court. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Karnataka government, submitted the opposition to the bail order to the Supreme Court, stating that the protesters were from the Popular Front of India, and they also attacked the police personnel present at the protests of December 19 in Mangaluru. The SC then stayed the bail order, Livemint reported.

The police had said that they opened fire on the protesters because there was no teargas available to them.

They had also stated that they were afraid that the protesters would overpower them, however, witnesses questioned the police line, stating that the police used excess force, as TNM had previously reported.

(This story has been published in arrangement with The News Minute)