Mumbai Lawyer Nikita Jacob Gets 3-Week Relief Before Arrest in Toolkit Case

Nikita Jacob Arrest On Hold For 3 Weeks: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday granted transit anticipatory bail for three weeks to activist Nikita Jacob. Delhi police had on Monday alleged that the Mumbai-based lawyer and Bengaluru environmentalist Disha Ravi and Maharashtra engineer Shantanu Muluk, had edited the “toolkit” shared by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg on social media.

While cops on Saturday arrested 21-year-old Ravi from Bengaluru, a non-bailable arrest warrant was issued against Jacob and Muluk. Police alleged that the trio was involved in “formulation and dissemination” of the doc and they meant to tarnish India's image. They were allegedly in direct touch with "pro-Khalistani elements," police claimed.

Jacob, in case arrested, will be released on a personal bond of ₹ 25,000 and one surety of like amount.

Nikita Jacob Arrest: HC also gave Jacob three-week time

On Tuesday, the HC heard Jacob's plea and had reserved the order. Justice PD Naik noted that the Aurangabad bench of the HC granted transit pre-arrest bail relief to Muluk. Jacob's lawyers Mihir Desai, Abhiskek Yende and Sanjukta Dey had said the NBW issued by Delhi Police was on the "wrong pretext'' the TOI reported.

Meanwhile, Jacob had yesterday told the court that she attended a Zoom meeting before Republic Day and Poetic Justice Foundation founder MO Dhaliwal and Ravi were also present there. In a document submitted by her lawyer, she claimed the "toolkit" was prepared by Extinction Rebellion (XR) India volunteers for presenting to make international audience aware of the whole picture.

Disha Ravi Toolkit Case: All You Need to Know

Cops further noted that the activists named in the case were connected through a woman associate of Khalistani sympathiser, MO Dhaliwal, who runs an organisation called Poetic Justice Foundation. Police claimed that the trio is the “key conspirator” in connection with the “toolkit” case and “collaborated with pro-Khalistan Poetic Justice Foundation to spread disaffection against the Indian State.”

Read about Nikita Jacob here.

Feature Image Credit: Bar And Bench