The Gauhati High Court Kohima Bench has granted “absolute” the interim pre-arrest bail to 12 Naga Club members in connection with the vandalisation of Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) office at Kohima on May 27.
It may be recalled that the court on June 5 granted absolute pre-arrest bail to six persons Naga Club functionaries while 12 of them were granted interim pre-arrest bail during the hearing on June 6.
After hearing the counsel and on perusal of record, and after considering all relevant facts of the case, single-judge bench of Justice Kakheto Sema on Thursday ordered “granting interim pre-arrest bail to the applicants absolute” on the same terms and conditions stipulated in the June 6, 2023 order.
During the hearing, the counsel for the petitioners also informed the court that Naga Students’ Federation (NSF)– the complainant in the criminal case addressed to the chief judicial magistrate (CJM), Kohima, has withdrawn the FIR field on May 27. It submitted that the applications were filed in view of the said FIR.
As per the case diary (CD) produced by the public prosecutor, the investigating officer (IO) of the case had stated that “since the arrest was not necessary, they were all allowed to leave with only a request to cooperate with the investigation.”
The counsel for the petitioners submitted that they (petitioners) had appeared before the IO and had also complied with all the conditions passed by the court of June 6.
The court, after the hearing, disposed of the bail application by affirming the June 6 order that granted interim pre-arrest bail to the applicants.
