If highlighting the farmers’ protest globally is sedition, then “I am better (off) in jail”, climate activist Disha Ravi told a Delhi court which on Saturday reserved its decision on her bail plea till February 23.

Additional sessions judge Dharmender Rana directed a few scathing questions at Delhi police at the hearing, asking if they were acting solely on “surmises, inferences, and conjectures”.

He asked how the social media toolkit in connection with which the 22-year-old Bangalorean has been arrested was connected to the violence witnessed during the farmers’ Republic Day tractor rally in Delhi.

“Is there any evidence or we are only acting on surmises, inferences, and conjectures.... How is the toolkit connected to the violence? What is the evidence?” the judge asked.

He added: “Unless I satisfy my conscience, I don’t move ahead.”

Disha, taken into custody on February 13, faces sedition and other charges for allegedly editing and sharing the toolkit, which advised people on the various ways of supporting the farmers’ protest.

A trial court had on February 19 sent her to judicial custody for three days after the expiry of her five-day police remand.

Additional solicitor-general S.V. Raju, appearing for the police who opposed her bail plea, said the hyperlinks in the toolkit connected people to Khalistani websites that propagate hatred towards India.

“This was not just a toolkit. The real plan was to defame India and create unrest here,” he told the judge on Saturday.

Disha’s counsel Sidharth Agarwal claimed there was no evidence linking the toolkit to the January 26 violence and questioned the contents of the FIR.

Lowering the bar

“We all have different opinions. You may have a problem with the farmers’ protest, I may not. If highlighting a protest globally is sedition, I (Disha) am better (off) in jail,” Agarwal said.

“I (Agarwal) also support farmers. But if that’s an offence, let’s all go to jail.”

He went on: “There is an allegation in the FIR that yoga and chai are being targeted (by the farmers’ supporters as symbols of India). Is it an offence? We are now reducing the bar (so) that somebody can’t have a point of view different (from the government’s).”

‘Fears came true’

The police alleged that Disha had deleted WhatsApp chats, emails and other alleged evidence, claiming this reflected a guilty mind and “a sinister design”.

Agarwal said Disha had deleted the messages from fear of being wrongly prosecuted.

“A person may run for two reasons — either he is guilty or to save himself from wrong prosecution. A person may have fears of wrong prosecution. Unfortunately, for this girl, her fears have come true,” he said.

When the judge asked how the toolkit was linked to the violence, ASG Raju said posting certain matters on social media and disseminating the toolkit with an intention to instigate was sufficient. “But yes, no physical presence was there,” he acknowledged.

He said the first evidence was the hyperlinks in the toolkit connecting people to Khalistani websites.

Agarwal said the government had the power to block these websites but had not.

Conspiracy angle

On the point of conspiracy, the judge said: “If I approach a dacoit for temple donation, how do you say that I’m privy to dacoity? What is the material against her? What is the link? Unless I satisfy my conscience, I don’t move ahead.”

Raju replied: “The court must look at the conduct. She is constantly in touch.... On plain look, it seems normal. But if you click on the hyperlink given on the cheat sheet, it takes you to another website that defames the Indian army, how the Indian army committed genocide in Kashmir.

“Those articles make an impact on the mind of the reader. This is the purpose, which is why (the pro-Khalistan) Poetic Justice Foundation is brought.

“It’s not just where a plan was made but also it was followed by violence. You asked the people to come to Delhi, you asked people to protest, you showed the people that India is a bad country that kills Muslims. (Co-accused) Shantanu (Muluk) was sent to Delhi to ensure the plan in the toolkit is carried out.

“In a simple toolkit, you don’t prepare what’s to be in future as they’ve written which has to be circulated as soon as any violence took place.... There was an effort so that violence takes place.”

Raju alleged the involvement of Sikhs For Justice, a banned organisation that had announced $250,000 for anyone holding up the Khalistani flag at India Gate on Republic Day.

‘No evidence’

Agarwal said: “There is no evidence to link me (Disha) with Sikhs For Justice. And even if I (Disha) meet someone, there is no symbol on him that he is a secessionist.”

He added: “The Delhi police gave permission for the farmers’ march, which they’re claiming that I (Disha) asked people to join, so how did I become seditious?”

The lawyer said that none among those arrested over the storming of the Red Fort on January 26 had claimed to have been inspired by the toolkit.

“The talk about alleged genocide in Kashmir has been going on for years; how (does) suddenly talking about it become sedition? If this is sedition, we should shut down the Internet, go back to the era when there was only one Doordarshan TV,” he said.

He added: “My part is that I sought support from (teenaged Swedish climate activist and global celebrity) Greta Thunberg, that too for the farmers’ protest and not for Khalistan.”

Thunberg had tweeted the toolkit on February 3, drawing attention to it.

Agarwal argued that people (co-accused) who had to be confronted with Disha had already been granted protection, and she too could join the probe “post-bail”.