New Delhi: A Delhi court has granted bail to two suspended Lucknow University law students arrested for allegedly disrupting proceedings inside the Supreme Court, observing that while their conduct deserved “unequivocal condemnation”, continued pre-trial detention was not warranted after the investigation had been completed.Judicial magistrate Ravi of Patiala House courts granted bail to third-year law student Prabal Pratap Singh and second-year student Chander Bhan in connection with the alleged incident during a Supreme Court hearing on July 10.Prabal, who was appearing as a petitioner-in-person, disrupted proceedings in court no. 13 by using abusive and unparliamentary language, throwing papers inside the courtroom, creating a commotion and using criminal force against security personnel. Chander Bhan was also arrested in connection with the incident.In its July 27 order, the magistrate observed that the allegations, if proved, affected the dignity and decorum of the country’s highest constitutional court.“A litigant, howsoever aggrieved… does not thereby acquire licence to hurl papers in open court or direct abusive language at the presiding authority, much less at the office of the Chief Justice of India (CJI),” the court said, adding that such conduct was “not condoned and is unequivocally deprecated.”At the same time, the court noted that Supreme Court had responded with “institutional restraint” by recording the petitioner’s conduct without initiating action. “An institution of the stature and permanence of the Supreme Court is not diminished by the intemperate conduct of a single agitated, unrepresented litigant,” it said, adding that subordinate courts should be guided by the same restraint.The court held that the alleged offences, including assaulting and obstructing a public servant, carry a maximum sentence of two years. As the investigation was complete and there was no material to suggest the accused would abscond or influence witnesses, it granted them bail on furnishing personal and surety bonds of Rs 25,000 each.
