AISA president Neha Bora has moved the Delhi High Court against a notice requiring her to explain why she should not furnish a Rs 10,000 peace bond, arguing that preventive policing powers are being used to suppress peaceful dissent in Delhi.
Bora was scheduled to appear before the Special Executive Magistrate (SEM) on October 19 while the police inquiry against her was pending. The Delhi High Court is on vacation until October 26, and no vacation bench was scheduled to sit on Monday, according to the report.
The notice, issued by SEM Mahesh Kumar Meena on October 17, concerns Bora’s detention at Mandi House on October 16, when she was travelling to the “Lehra Do Tiranga” march at Connaught Place. She was released in the early hours of October 17 after completing formalities related to her detention under Section 65 of the Delhi Police Act, 1978.
The provision allows police to remove a person who refuses to comply with what officers consider reasonable directions. The SEM notice said there was an apprehension that Bora could breach public peace and tranquillity. It alleged that she had created a nuisance by shouting loudly in protest, had previously been involved in repeated protest-related activity near Jantar Mantar despite prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and had instigated people to participate in an unauthorised demonstration at Central Park in Connaught Place.
The notice also alleged that the proposed demonstration involved hoisting the national flag without valid permission. Bora’s plea, filed through advocates Abhik Chimni and Pranjal Abrol, disputes these claims and argues that the notice does not identify a specific period, occasion or event in relation to which a breach of peace is apprehended.
Her petition states that describing loud protest as a nuisance, at its highest, concerns the exercise of freedom of speech and assembly and does not establish a likelihood of breach of peace. It further argues that preventive powers are intended to address a future risk and cannot be used to punish past protest activity or bind a person merely because she may protest again.
Bora has also denied the allegation that she instigated people to gather at Central Park. According to her plea, she had called for a peaceful gathering at Mandi House at 5 pm on October 16, which was separate from the Central Park call mentioned in the police notice.
The plea relies on a Supreme Court order dated October 9 concerning restrictions on protests. It argues that a bond intended to restrain Bora from protesting would amount to prior restraint on her fundamental rights. The petition also challenges what it describes as the routine use of prohibitory orders whenever a protest is anticipated, arguing that such powers are meant for genuine and immediate emergencies.
Delhi Police had also taken Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke into preventive custody ahead of the march. He was produced before the SEM at Mandir Marg and was later released after signing a peace bond. The High Court’s response to Bora’s challenge was not available in the report, and the matter’s next judicial step remains subject to the court’s vacation schedule.
