The Assam government on Tuesday submitted a CD containing an audio-video recording of the public meeting addressed by litterateur Hiren Gohain, KMSS adviser Akhil Gogoi and Manjit Mahanta, a member of the Forum Against Citizenship Act Amendment Bill, to Gauhati High Court in connection with the sedition case registered against them.

The case was registered against them for allegedly making secessionist speeches at a meeting in Ambari here on January 7 to oppose the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019.

State advocate-general R.C. Borpatragohain submitted the CD to a single-judge bench of Justice H.K. Sharma during a hearing of the pre-arrest bail pleas of the accused.

The defence lawyers also submitted a video recording of the meeting in a pen drive, suspecting that the CD submitted by government may contain selective parts of the speeches or may have been tampered with.

Senior advocate Arup Borbora, who appeared for the petitioners, said Justice Sharma said he would watch the video recordings in his chamber in the presence of counsels of both sides on February 6, after which the next date of hearing will be fixed.

The court extended the interim pre-arrest bail granted to Gohain and Akhil on January 11 till the next hearing of the case. Mahanta had been granted absolute/regular anticipatory bail.

Borbora said the petitioners’ speeches at the meeting do not have the ingredients to implicate them for sedition.

Latasil police had registered case No. 15/2019 against the trio on January 10 under IPC Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 121 (waging or attempting to wage war against the government of India), 123 (concealing with intent to facilitate design to wage war) and 124A (bringing or attempting to bring into hatred or contempt towards the government).

Bail granted: The Golaghat sessions court judge Satyajit Khound on Tuesday granted bail to five student leaders who were accused of allegedly vandalising the district BJP office at Purona Amolapatty during the 11-hour strike called by the AASU, supported by 70 other organisations in protest against the citizenship bill, on January 8.

Mohen Bora, the general secretary of the All Assam Chutia Students’ Union’s, adviser to the Golaghat unit of the union, Ashim Saikia, general secretary of Satra Mukti Sangram Samiti Bidyut Saikia and Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Parishad organising secretary Rajib Laskar were given bail of Rs 25,000 with one surety, AJYP member Nipon Gogoi was granted anticipatory bail.

Additional reporting by Ritupallab Saikia