The Delhi High Court is scheduled to hear AISA national president Neha Bora’s challenge to a Delhi Police notice requiring her to execute a peace bond under Section 126 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), after the hearing was deferred on Wednesday.
Bora has asked the court to quash the notice and direct the police not to take coercive action against her. The petition challenges the notice as vague and factually incorrect, and disputes the allegation that she instigated people to participate in a demonstration at Central Park in Connaught Place on October 16.
According to the petition, Bora had called for a peaceful gathering at Mandi House at 5pm that day and was detained there while on her way to join the Cockroach Janata Party’s Lehra Do Tiranga march. She was released on October 17. The petition states that the event referred to by the police and Bora’s own protest were separate incidents.
The notice, issued on October 17, directed Bora to appear before a special executive magistrate on October 19 and show cause why she should not execute a personal bond of Rs 10,000 with one surety for keeping peace during the period of enquiry. Section 126 of the BNSS permits such proceedings when there is credible information that a person may breach the peace, disturb public tranquillity or commit a wrongful act likely to cause such disturbance.
Bora’s petition argues that the notice does not provide material supporting the police assessment that she was likely to breach the peace. It also says the notice relies on an incorrect account of her alleged role in the Connaught Place demonstration. The petition has sought protection from coercive action while the challenge is heard.
The proceedings before the special executive magistrate reportedly refer to allegations of sloganeering at Mandi House on October 16, repeated protests near Jantar Mantar despite prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the BNSS, and the alleged instigation of people to participate in a Connaught Place protest on the same day.
Justice Subramonium Prasad deferred the high court hearing at the request of Bora’s counsel, who was also required to appear before the special executive magistrate court in matters concerning leaders of the Cockroach Janata Party. The high court is closed this week for the Dussehra vacation, but the petition was listed after Bora sought an urgent hearing.
The case places the preventive use of peace-bond proceedings within a live dispute over demonstrations against alleged irregularities in the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. The immediate question before the court is whether the police notice contains adequate factual material and correctly identifies the conduct attributed to Bora. The next hearing is scheduled for Thursday.
