The dismantling of the Disha Ravi case
The TLDR: Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana granted bail to the 22-year-old climate activist. His ruling also meticulously ripped the prosecution’s case to shreds—which raises the question as to whether the government will persist in prosecuting Ravi and the other two activists named in the so-called ‘toolkit conspiracy’.
Note: We explained the toolkit case in detail here and here.
The big picture
The overall sentiment of the ruling is best summed up in two powerful quotes. Number one:
“In my considered opinion, citizens are conscience keepers of government in any democratic Nation. They cannot be put behind the bars simply because they choose to disagree with the State’s policies. The offence of sedition cannot be invoked to minister to the wounded vanity of the governments.”
Number two:
“Considering the scanty and sketchy evidence available on record, I do not find any palpable reasons to breach the general rule of ‘Bail’ against a 22-year-old young lady, with absolutely blemish-free criminal antecedents and having firm roots in the society, and send her to jail.”
Ok, now on to what the ruling said about each specific charge.
The infamous toolkit
The police claimed: the following: Ravi, Shantanu Mukul, Nikita Jacob and unnamed others created a toolkit—contained in a google document. And it “indicates a copycat execution of a conspiracy behind the January 26 violence. The call was to wage economic, social, cultural and regional war against India.” Ravi was named as an editor of the shared document and a “key conspirator” in its “formulation & dissemination.”
The judge said: the toolkit appears to be, well, an ordinary protest toolkit:
“The perusal of the said toolkit reveals that any call for any kind of violence is conspicuously absent… Difference of opinion, disagreement, divergence, dissent, or for that matter, even disapprobation, are recognised legitimate tools to infuse objectivity in state policies. An aware and assertive citizenry, in contradistinction with an indifferent or docile citizenry, is indisputably a sign of a healthy and vibrant democracy.”
Also this: The prosecution had pointed to malicious hyperlinks to two websites, askindiawhy.com and Genocide.org—which were aimed at maligning India abroad. The judge dismissed these as well:
“I find absolutely nothing objectionable in the said page. Upon perusal of the material available on Genocide.org, it is revealed that it carries certain facts about the status of human right violations in somewhere about 40 countries, including India…The imputations may be false, exaggerated or even with a mischievous intent but the same cannot be stigmatised as being seditious unless they have a tendency to foment violence.”
The charge of sedition
The toolkit was the key piece of evidence to level the very serious charge of sedition—which carries severe penalties. The larger significance: the police seemed to equate protest with sedition.
The police claimed: that while there is no direct evidence linking Ravi to the January 26 violence, her conduct “unambiguously establish(es) that there was a ‘larger conspiracy’ to perpetuate violence by secessionist forces and the protest against the farm laws was merely a facade to conceal the real sinister designs.”
The judge dismantled: this core part of the case in several steps. First, he established that the toolkit did not contain any call to violence (as noted above)—which he emphasized is an absolute requirement of any charge of sedition. Then, he said:
“It would be worthwhile to observe that there is nothing on record to suggest that the applicant accused subscribed to any secessionist idea. Further, the prosecution has, except for pointing out that applicant/accused forwarded the toolkit to Ms. Greta Thunberg, failed to point out as to how the applicant/accused gave global audience to the ‘secessionist elements’.”
Where’s the violence? He then pointed out that there “not even an iota of evidence” connecting Ravi to the January 26 violence. And the ruling emphasized why this glaring absence mattered:
“[M]ore than hundreds of persons involved in the violence have been arrested and interrogated by the Delhi Police but no evidence connecting the applicant/accused with
the actual perpetrators of the violence has been brought forth on record by the prosecution till date.”
He also noted:
"It is further highlighted that the applicant/accused along with her associates under the pretext of protesting against the farm laws have resolved to vandalize Indian Embassies and specifically attack symbols of India i.e. Yoga and Chai. Except for a bare assertion, no evidence has been brought to my notice to support the contention that any violence took place at any of the Indian Embassies pursuant to the sinister designs of the applicant/accused and her co-conspirators.”
Re yoga and chai: The police claimed that the toolkit “mentions tasks such as disruption of India’s cultural heritage such as yoga and tea.” But actually it only contains a link to AskIndiaWhy which merely states that “India is not just all about spirituality, yoga and chai.”
Point to note: During the hearings, Ravi’s lawyer argued: “Delhi police gave permission for the farmers’ march, which they’re claiming that I (Ravi) asked people to join, so how did I become seditious?” The judge agreed.
The ‘Khalistani’ angle
Along with sedition, Ravi was also charged with criminal conspiracy—specifically collaborating with “secessionist” groups—specifically, the Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) and the Poetic Justice Foundation.
Sikhs For Justice: is a banned organisation. Based in the United States, it was declared an unlawful organisation under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, in 2019, and in 2020, its founder, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, was designated as a terrorist.
In its FIR, the police ties SFJ to toolkit, as Caravan notes:
“The FIR opens with the mention of the SFJ, claiming that there is a ‘concerted campaign’ by the group to disrupt the Republic Day ceremony and ‘precipitate unlawful acts’ in the guise of the farmers’ protests...
The FIR states that SFJ ‘had declared a reward of USD 2,50,000 for waving secessionist flag at the India Gate on Republic Day, 2021 which also contributed to the violence which happened as a result of the said tractor rally.’... The very next sentence says that the rally turned violent because of the ‘instigation by the elements behind this document and its Toolkit.’”
The judge said: simply this: “There is absolutely no link established on record between the applicant/accused and the said banned organization.” FYI: Caravan also notes that the FIR itself fails to establish any connection between the toolkit and SFJ.
Poetic Justice Foundation: As we explained before, PJF is a Canada-based organisation set up 11 months ago—and its founders are Mo Dhaliwal and Anita Lal. The police claim Dhaliwal is a Khalistani sympathiser, and that PJF collaborated with Ravi et al. to create the toolkit. Moreover, Mukul and Jacob attended a Zoom meeting organised by PJF. Point to note: PJF is not banned or on any government list of suspect organisations.
What the judge said: He made it clear that there was nothing on record to suggest that there was any call, incitement, instigation or exhortation” to instigate violence—either by Ravi or even PJF. Then he went on to make clear that no one is guilty by mere association:
“In my considered opinion, it is not mere engagement with persons of dubious credentials which is indictable rather it is the purpose of engagement which is relevant for the purpose of deciding culpability. Any person with dubious credentials may interact with a number of persons during the course of his social intercourse. As long as the engagement/interaction remains within the four corners of law, people interacting with such persons, ignorantly, innocently or for that matter even fully conscious of their dubious credentials, cannot be painted with the same hue.”
In other words, there was no evidence of “a common purpose to cause violence” —which is critical to the criminal conspiracy charge.
The ‘guilty mind’ charge
The police made great hay of the fact that Ravi deleted a WhatsApp group created to organise activities around the protests. And she got rid of her messages to Thunberg. The police asked: “Why did Disha Ravi cover her track and delete evidence if she did not commit wrong.”
The judge said: the following:
“Further, since the link with the said toolkit or the PJF has not been found to be objectionable, mere deletion of the WhatsApp chat to destroy the evidence linking her with the toolkit and the PJF also becomes meaningless… The attempt to conceal her identity seems to be nothing more than an anxious effort to stay away from unnecessary controversies.”
The bottomline: Ravi has been finally set free after spending days in what now appears to be unlawful custody. But, more importantly, this ruling may also offer hope to Mukul and Jacob who will soon have to make their case for anticipatory bail in a Delhi court to avoid arrest.
Reading list
You can read the entire judgment here. Indian Express reports on Ravi’s mom who can’t wait to hug her daughter. The Caravan did a brilliant job of decoding the FIR, and The Wire explains why the charges against Ravi—especially those linking her to PFJ—are absurd. Read our previous explainers on this case here and here.