Noida: An additional chief judicial magistrate’s court on Monday rejected bail applications filed by labour activist and translator Satyam Verma in connection with all three FIRs registered against him for allegedly inciting violence during the industrial workers’ protest in the city on April 13.Stating that the charges are serious and non-bailable, the court also rejected bail applications filed by co-accused Rupesh Rai, Manisha Chauhan and Aakriti Chaudhary.Defence counsel Sameer Saifi said that others named as key conspirators in the case — Aditya Anand and Himanshu Thakur — have not yet applied for bail, while another accused Shrishti Gupta’s bail application is to be heard by the sessions court on Thursday.Judge Virek Aggrawal noted that Verma is accused of stopping workers at Richa Global Hosiery Complex and other companies on April 10 at 9 am — the day the city saw the first protest after Haryana govt hiked minimum wages by 35% — gheraoing the local police station, blocking the road and pelting stones, causing blunt injuries to police personnel. “There aren’t sufficient grounds for bail in the facts and circumstances of the case. Hence, the bail application is rejected,” the judge said.The court also noted that Verma and others are accused of entering Motherson’s premises on April 13 morning, damaging the gate and CCTV cameras, and glass panes and railings installed on the premises, besides attacking police and security personnel.On April 23, the same court rejected bail applications filed by Rupesh, Manisha and Aakriti. Arguing for bail to be granted, defence counsels Harun Rana, Manisha and Sameer Saifi contended that the applicants had not caused any breach of peace and police held them in custody despite the charges being bailable and the magistrate granting interim bail.After hearing arguments of the prosecution, the judge noted that police added BNS sections 333 (house trespass), 324-3 (mischief with intent to cause loss), 352 (intentional insult to provoke breach of public peace), and 61-2 (criminal conspiracy) to the FIR against them. These charges were based on inspector Ranjit Singh’s report that he was engaged in maintaining law and order on April 13 when a mob attacked his car with bricks, poured oil on the car and set it on fire. “The case is triable by the sessions court, non-bailable and of a serious nature,” the court ruled.The accused are from different cities, but what ties most of them together is that they are activists from Mazdoor Bigul, a workers’ forum that has taken the name of a monthly workers’ newspaper. Verma writes for this paper, which is distributed from Janchetna bookshop in Lucknow. Aditya Anand, described by police as mastermind of the agitation, is originally from Bihar. He lives in Noida and works with a Gurgaon-based MNC.
