A Delhi court on Sunday ordered the immediate release of 14 students arrested for the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) protests on February 26, noting that the right to liberty must be balanced against the state’s legitimate interests.
The 14 were granted bail within a day of their arrest but had not been released because the court order required the authorities to first verify their permanent addresses.
In his order on Friday, judicial magistrate Animesh Kumar agreed to grant bail since the accused were students with their careers ahead of them. But the judge ordered verification of the permanent addresses of the students before their release.
Lawyers Abhik Chimni and Sidharth Ganeshan, who appeared for the students, later urged the court to modify the court since verification of their permanent address would take a significant amount of time despite due diligence by the police.
On Sunday, judicial magistrate first class (JMFC) Ravi agreed to modify the condition.
Ravi said the verification was an important procedural step, but it could not be allowed to operate as an obstacle to keep the accused in continued judicial custody when they could furnish bail bonds and were prepared to provide additional safeguards.
The court ordered that the students be released forthwith and directed the police to expedite the verification process. The students were told to file an undertaking committing to cooperate in the probe.
The court noted that the investigating officer (IO) had conceded that the delay in verification was due to external factors, such as travel and bank holidays, and was not attributable to the accused.
Ravi also noted that the accused were young students, and not habitual criminals, and that keeping them in jail despite granting them bail would be detrimental to their academic careers, especially in a case arising out of a protest.
The prosecutor opposed the application to modify the bail condition, saying police officials had already been deputed to their respective addresses for verification, and there was a likelihood that the JNU students would jump bail.
The students were arrested on Thursday following the violence near the main entrance of JNU during a long march organised by JNUSU, which began from the campus and was headed to the education ministry to demand the resignation of the vice-chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit over her alleged caste-related remarks in a recent podcast interview, revocation of rustication orders against certain students, implementation of the University Grants Commission (UGC) Equity Regulations 2026, and increased funding for public institutions.
14 students, including three JNUSU office bearers, were arrested in connection with the protest. A First Information Report (FIR) registered at Vasant Kunj North Police Station booked the students under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) pertaining to obstruction of public servants, causing hurt and assault.