Army Defamation Case: Send 10-Day Pre-Arrest Notice To Shehla Rashid, Delhi Court Directs Police

A Delhi court on Friday disposed of the anticipatory bail application of former JNU student leader Shehla Rashid in the alleged Army defamation case and directed police to send a 10 day pre-arrest notice to her if the need arises to arrest her. Rashid, who had recently announced to quit the electoral politics, was booked for sedition over her tweets alleging that the armed forces "tortured" civilians and "ransacked" houses in the Valley after Jammu and Kashmir’s special status was revoked.

In a series of tweets on August 17, Rashid had alleged that the armed forces entered houses in Kashmir at night and "ransacked" them. She had also alleged that four men were called to an Army camp in Shopian and "interrogated (tortured)". She had claimed a mic was kept close to these men so that "the entire area could hear them scream, and be terrorised".

Earlier this year, Rashid, who became the face of student activism following a controversy over the 2016 event at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) during which alleged anti-national slogans were raised, had joined the Jammu and Kashmir People's Movement (JKPM) floated by former IAS officer Shah Faisal.

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In the FIR filed on September 3, Rashid has been booked under sections 124A (sedition), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language), 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code, they said.

In January this year, the Delhi Police filed a charge sheet in court against Kumar and nine others for allegedly shouting anti-India slogans during an event in the JNU on February 9, 2016, to commemorate the hanging of Parliament-attack mastermind Afzal Guru.

(With PTI inputs)