Delhi HC rejects AISA president Neha Bora’s plea against police peace bond notice

The Delhi High Court on Friday rejected a plea by Neha Bora, President of the All India Students' Association (AISA), which challenged a police notice asking her to execute a peace bond before a special executive magistrate (SEM), ANI reported.

"I am rejecting the writ petition at this juncture," Justice Subramonium Prasad said in the report, while pronouncing the judgement.

The judge, however, issued directions to the SEM to ensure that all relevant material was provided to the student leader during the proceedings.


The police notice, issued on October 17 under Section 126 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), asked Bora to appear before the SEM on October 19 and explain why she should not execute a personal bond of Rs 10,000 with one surety to maintain peace during the inquiry.

Section 126 of the BNSS empowers an SEM to require a person to execute a bond when there is credible information that the person is likely to breach the peace, disturb public tranquillity or commit an act that could cause such a disturbance.

Bora was taken into preventive detention on October 16 while on her way to join the Cockroach Janta Party's 'Lehra Do Tiranga' march in Delhi's Connaught Place.

She was released the following day.

In her petition, settled by lawyer Abhik Chimni, Bora argued that the notice was vague, factually incorrect and unsupported by material establishing the likelihood of a breach of peace.

The proceedings before the SEM stemmed from allegations of sloganeering at Mandi House on October 16, repeated protests around Jantar Mantar despite prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the BNSS, and instigating people to participate in the demonstration that day, according to the PTI report.

During the hearing on Thursday, Bora's senior counsel argued that citizens did not need permission to hoist the national flag and that seeking regime change was not wrong in a democracy.