Three days after he was arrested and sent to Tihar Jail, a Delhi Court granted bail to freelance journalist Mandeep Punia. The 25-year-old journalist, a freelancer, an independent reporter, had been sent to judicial custody after his arrest from Singhu border from where he was reporting about the farmers’ protests. 

While pronouncing the bail order today, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Satvir Singh Lamba after stated that it was unlikely that Punia would influence the course of the investigation and given the well-settled legal principle that bail is the rule. The order reads:  “… there is no possibility that accused/ applicant can able to influence any of the police officials. Admittedly, the accused is a freelancer journalist. Moreso, no recovery is to be effected from the accused person and keeping the accused further in Judicial Custody would not serve any cogent purpose. It is well settled legal principle of law that ‘bail is a rule and jail is an exception’. Hence, considering the totality of facts and circumstances of the present case, submissions on behalf of both the parties as well as keeping in view the period of detention of the accused in judicial custody, he is admitted to bail.”

According to a report in Bar and Bench, Puniya’s counsel contended before the Court that he is innocent and falsely implicated in the case. Puniya had been carrying out his duties along with other journalists at the protest site, submitted his lawyer, adding that the other journalist [Dharmender Singh] arrested by the police along with Puniya had been released. However, Puniya was not released because he was not carrying a press ID, as he is a freelance journalist. The legal portal reported that the State, however, argued that Puniya stood accused of grave offences including the creation of nuisance and instigating the protestors, while opposing the grant of bail. 

However, the Court noted that the “scuffle with the police” after which Puniya was arrested was stated to have taken place at 6.30 PM, but the FIR against him was only registered at 1.21 AM, the next day. The court noted, “The complainant, the victims and the witnesses in the case were all police officials,” hence there was no possibility of Puniya influencing the case.

The Court has directed that Puniya be released on bail, furnishing a “bail bond in a sum of Rs.25,000/- along with one sound surety in the like amount,” among other bail conditions.

Punia and Dharmender Singh’s arrests have been seen by the fraternity as a crackdown on journalists covering the massive farmers’ protest. While Dharmender Singh, who was carrying his press card, was released, Punia was sent to judicial custody for 14 days by a Delhi court on Sunday.  He was charged under Sections 186 (voluntarily obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code. 

The media fraternity had come together in large numbers in support of Punia and demanded his release, many shared videos of Mandeep being beaten up allegedly by police at Singhu border from where he was reporting, when he was detained.

The bail order may be read here:

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In a crackdown on journalists covering the massive farmers protest, independent reporter Mandeep Punia (25), who hails from Jhajjar, Haryana has been sent to judicial custody for 14 days. He is now lodged in Delhi’s Tihar Jail. As the media fraternity gathered in support of Punia and demanded his release, many shared videos of Mandeep being beaten up allegedly by police at Singhu border from where he was reporting, when he was detained.

Delhi Police has been given judicial custody of 14 days in #MandeepPunia case https://t.co/qlHgwCinhx

— Sandeep Singh (@PunYaab) January 31, 2021

Mandeep Punia has been charged under Sections 186 (voluntarily obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code. He was sent to judicial custody for 14 days by a Delhi court on Sunday. According to Indian Express, Punia’s lawyer, Akram Khan has said the bail application will be heard on Monday, February 1.

According to the FIR, that was also shared on social media, protesters “clung to the policemen”, and “one of them dragged Constable Rajkumar towards the protest site”, adding that police used “minimal force to control the situation…the man who was dragging our constable fell in the canal… He was identified as Mandeep Punia… Punia and the protesters who came along with him obstructed police personnel in their duty and also thrashed them.”

The IE quoted lawyer Khan stating that Punia was produced before a magistrate inside Tihar jail and that his bail hearing is listed at Rohini court on Monday February 1. According to the IE, the bail application states that “no information was given to his family members until late last night regarding his detention or possible arrest”. The news came to light after other journalists and those at the protest site shared the video of Puniya being held by policemen, and a journalist then reached the police station to file a missing person’s complaint.

The application adds that Puniya was “merely carrying out his journalistic duties and another journalist was detained along with him but was released around midnight”. The second journalist, Dharmendra Singh, was allowed to go, reported the IE, after he showed the police his press card. Punia is a freelance journalist, and does not carry a “press card”, his lawyers state that this is “no grounds for a case or arrest”. Puniya graduated from Panjab University, Chandigarh and studied journalism at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC). He has been published by The Caravan magazine, and also reports on his own online handles.

According to the IE report, Puniya’s lawyers stated that: “The offences as alleged in the FIR are not made out against him. The FIR was registered at around 1.21 am (on Sunday) despite him being allegedly part of a scuffle at around 6.40 pm the previous evening. In such a simple case where the accused is allegedly apprehended on the spot and where the complainant and alleged victim are police officers, this approximate seven-hour delay has to be considered significant.

Media Stands Together In Solidarity

In the presence of Puniya’s wife Leelashree (29), journalists held a peaceful protest at the Delhi Police headquarters on Jai Singh Road on Sunday. Leelashree, a research scholar said, “If they start suppressing their (journalists’) voices, society will be silenced. This is very unfortunate. I got a call from the police today at 10 AM that an FIR has been lodged at Alipur thana. They told me to get some clothes for him. But why this happened at 10 am is something I do not understand…this incident happened around 6 PM the previous day. I didn’t even know where he was.”  According to news reports journalists also held protests in Panchkula, and more protests are likely in Chandigarh and Fatehabad,  Haryana.

The Indian Women’s Press Corps, Press Club of India and the Press Association condemned the brutal police action against freelance journalist Mandeep Punia, and Dharmender Singh, and demanded that Punia be freed immediately adding “no journalist should be disturbed while carrying out their duties at any place. Such crackdowns impinge on the media’s right to report freely and interferes with our right to freedom of expression, and freedom of the press as guaranteed by the Constitution of India.” The Editors Guild of India condemned the intimidation of journalists  who have been slapped with FIRs for their reportage, and social media updates from the events of January 26. 

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