The Supreme Court has stayed the bail of 21 persons who were named in the Mangaluru police firing case. The 21 persons, all belonging to the Popular Front of India, a radical muslim outfit, were granted bail by the Karnataka High Court after they were arrested for violence in the anti CAA protests in the city that left two people dead.
On Friday, a comprising Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant cancelled bail after taking note of the appeal filed by Karnataka government against the grant of bail by the high court.
The Karnataka High Court had granted bail to the 21 accused in the case, as the February 18 order noted that the police had used excess force to rein in the protests. “The records indicate that a deliberate attempt has been made to fabricate evidence and to deprive the petitioners of their liberties. Any criminal antecedents of the petitioners are not disputed… There is no direct evidence to connect the petitioners with the alleged offences. The investigation appears to be mala fide and partisan,” the HC had said.
However, this order was challenged by the Karnataka government in the Supreme Court. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Karnataka government, submitted the opposition to the bail order to the Supreme Court, stating that the protesters were from the Popular Front of India, and they also attacked the police personnel present at the protests of December 19 in Mangaluru. The SC then stayed the bail order,
The police had said that they opened fire on the protesters because there was no teargas available to them. They had also stated that they were afraid that the protesters would overpower them, however, witnesses questioned the police line, stating that the police used excess force, as TNM had previously reported.