A Delhi court on Tuesday granted bail to arrested freelance journalist Mandeep Punia.
Journalist Punia was arrested on Sunday from the Singhu border point between Delhi and Haryana where a huge number of farmers have been protesting for months, ND TV reported.
Punia was granted bail by the Rohini court on a guarantee of Rs 25,000.
“It is a well-settled legal principle of law that ‘bail is a rule and jail is an exception’,” the bail order said.
Punia was arrested by the Delhi police under various sections of the Indian Penal Code.
In the order, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (Rohini court) Satvir Singh Lamba said, “It is alleged that the accused had pushed Ct. (constable) Rajkumar towards the protesting place, therefore, the police called the minimal force to control the situation. Thereafter, the protesters went away… and the accused/applicant fell in the drain, upon which he was overpowered and arrested.”
“It is pertinent to mention here that the alleged scuffle incident of the present case is of around 6.30 pm. However, the present FIR was registered at around 1.21 am on the next day.
“Moreover, the complainant, victims, and witnesses are police personnel only. Hence, there is no possibility that accused/applicant can…influence any of the police officials,” the order further stated.