Noida: Additional sessions court on Tuesday rejected the bail application of PhD scholar Himanshu Thakur, arrested for instigating violence and riots during the Noida workers’ protest on April 13. The court noted that the presence of company employees and workers at the scene could be seen as natural given the nature of the movement, but the situation was different for those, including Thakur, with no direct employment relationship with the companies concerned.Judge Sunil Kumar, while rejecting the bail application, noted that Thakur was a member of the Disha Student Organisation, Mazdoor Bigul and RWPI. The court observed that while the incident occurred against the backdrop of a labour movement, the role of each accused could not be treated alike. “The court is of the view that the roles of company employees and outsiders participating in the labour movement cannot be held on the same level,” the court said.“The incident is of a serious nature, involving mass violence and law and order in the industrial area. In such circumstances, the possibility of the applicant influencing witnesses and sending a negative message to society after obtaining bail cannot be ruled out,” the court said, while rejecting the bail plea.The FIR in the case were registered by the Phase-III police under BNS sections 61(2) (criminal conspiracy), 109 (attempt to murder), 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt], 190 (unlawful assembly), 191(2) (rioting), 191(3) (rioting armed with deadly weapon), 324(5) (mischief causing damage), 351(2) (criminal intimidation), 352 (intentional insult) and Section 7 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act.According to the prosecution, the FIR was filed on April 15 on the complaint of Mukesh Singh of MK Electronics, stating that on April 13, workers had reported for duty and were performing their tasks when, at around 3 pm, two men — identified as Islam and Asif — along with 300-400 others, entered the company premises armed with sticks, rods, bricks, stones and other lethal weapons. The mob allegedly shouted abuses, threatened to kill company employees, and injured several of them.Counsel representing Thakur said the FIR was filed after a two-day delay, for which no explanation had been offered. He submitted that the applicant was arrested by police on April 18 from Shalimar Bagh, Delhi, and remanded to jail the following day in connection with another FIR registered at Phase-II police station. He submitted that the applicant was summoned from the district jail on April 21 and remanded to judicial custody in two FIRs, also registered at Phase-II police station.“After the applicant’s bail application was filed, he was summoned from the district jail on June 11 and sent to jail on remand. The applicant is a student of Delhi University. There is no justification for his involvement in the alleged incident. The police do not have any evidence that could prove his involvement in the incident. Thakur does not work for any company, and therefore, there is no justification for him to be involved in the protest. The FIR itself admits that the incident was carried out by named and hundreds of unidentified individuals, which do not include the applicant as he never participated in any protest or dharna,” he said.Prosecution objected to the bail, saying that the applicant is accused of rioting along with co-accused on the premises of MK Electronics and assaulting the complainant and workers. “Mukesh Singh has given his statement under Section 180 BNSS, and witnesses Dharmendra Kumar and Dinesh Kumar in their statements have confirmed the presence of the accused,” the prosecution counsel said.Thakur has been named in 11 FIRs under various sections of BNS, including rioting with weapons and attempted murder and has been in jail since April 18. In its case diary, police alleged that Thakur, on learning about the protest in Noida, collected money through donations and instigated workers present in the agitation to commit violence to get their demands met.
