The Kerala High Court on January 12 (Friday) granted bail to seven Students’ Federation of India (SFI) activists who were arrested and remanded in jail in connection with blocking the vehicle of Governor Arif Mohammed Khan and waving black flags at him in Thiruvananthapuram. The bail was granted on stringent conditions.
Justice C.S. Dias, while allowing their bail petitions, directed them to jointly deposit ₹76,357 before the jurisdictional Magistrate for causing damage to public properties during the agitation.
Other court conditions for bail included production of attendance sheets issued by the Registrar of the institutions they are studying in before the jurisdictional court quarterly and executing a bond of ₹25,000 each with one of their parents as surety. The court also directed the petitioners to obey their parents and attend counselling sessions as suggested by their parents.
The petitioners were entitled to be released on bail in view of the fact that they had been in judicial custody for one month, the investigation was practically complete, and no recovery was to be effected, the court observed.
The SFI workers who received bail are Yedhukrishnan, Ashique Pradeep, R.G. Ashish, Dileep, Ryan, Aman Gafoor and Rino Stephen.
