Punjab and Haryana HC grant bail to Nodeep Kaur; police refutes charges of assaulting labour rights activist

The Punjab and Haryana High Court granted bail to labour rights activist Nodeep Kaur on Friday, more than six weeks after she was arrested in Haryana’s Sonipat for allegedly gheraoing an industrial unit and demanding money from the company. “The court accepted the bail application of Naudeep Kaur. She has been granted bail by the high court,” her counsel Arshdeep Singh Cheema said. The Court had also registered a suo motu case followed complaints about her illegal confinement. Both the suo motu case and the bail plea were being heard by Justice Avneesh Jhingan. In her bail plea, the 23-year-old activist had claimed to have been severely beaten up at a police station after she was arrested by the Sonipat police on 12 January. The police have denied the charge as “baseless”. Kaur had also claimed that she was falsely arraigned as accused in an FIR lodged under various sections, including 307 (attempt to murder), of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The activist claimed she was targeted and falsely implicated in the case as she was successful in generating massive support for the ongoing farmers’ movement against the Centre’s three contentious farm laws. Hailing from Punjab’s Muktsar district, Kaur is lodged in Haryana’s Karnal jail. On 24 February, the high court had posted the hearing on her bail plea for Friday. During the hearing, Jhingan had directed the state of Haryana to place on record the subsequent medical report of Kaur. Meanwhile, the state of Haryana filed its reply in a matter pertaining to her alleged illegal confinement, which the high court had earlier taken suo motu cognisance. The state police said Kaur’s charge of assault was baseless and accused her of extorting money from industrialists. In the reply, the police claimed that during interrogation, Kaur had stated that she along with her associates Shiv Kumar, Sumit, Ashish and Sahil had formed the Majdoor Adhikar Sangathan (MAS) and “they took brokerage from the labourers for providing them salary from the factory owners and also extorting money from the owners.” With inputs from PTI