News Desk: All India Students’ Association (AISA) president Neha Bora on Thursday told the Delhi High Court that she was not involved in the Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) separate protest call at Connaught Place on October 16. She challenged a Delhi Police notice directing her to furnish a personal bond of ₹10,000 following her detention during a flag march in the national capital.
Appearing before the court, senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, representing Bora, described her detention and the police notice as illegal. He told the court that Bora had been organising her own protest at Mandi House and was not associated with the CJP’s planned demonstration at Central Park in Connaught Place.
The petition challenges a notice issued by a New Delhi district police officer acting as a Special Executive Magistrate. The order, dated October 17, directed Bora to appear before the authority and execute a personal bond of ₹10,000 with one surety.
According to the notice, the action was based on allegations of sloganeering at Mandi House on October 16, repeated protests near Jantar Mantar despite prohibitory orders, and allegedly instigating people to participate in the demonstration at Connaught Place.
Bora, in her petition filed through advocate Abhik Chimni, argued that the notice was ambiguous, factually incorrect and violated her fundamental rights under Articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution. She also questioned the absence of specific evidence indicating a likelihood of a breach of peace.
The petition stated that the notice did not clearly explain the circumstances, period or event in connection with which the authorities anticipated a possible disturbance.
The controversy comes amid heightened tensions surrounding protests organised by CJP and its supporters in Delhi. CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke had announced a flag march after the party’s co-convenors, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, were arrested following an incident involving the unfurling of the national flag at Jantar Mantar.
The two leaders were subsequently sent to five days of judicial custody.
Bora began her own flag march with AISA activists from Mandi House at around 5.15 pm on October 16. She was detained by police during the demonstration and was released at approximately 6 am the following morning after being held for around 12 hours.
Following her release, Bora criticised the police action and questioned the legal grounds for detaining protesters overnight.
The proceedings before the Delhi High Court raise questions about the grounds for issuing preventive police notices and the distinction between separate protest calls taking place in the capital.
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