Former TISS Student Moves Bombay HC for Anticipatory Bail in Campus Gathering Case

A former student of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) has approached the Bombay High Court seeking anticipatory bail in connection with an FIR registered over an unauthorised campus gathering held last year in memory of late Delhi University professor G N Saibaba.

The plea was filed days after a Mumbai sessions court rejected his pre-arrest bail application while granting relief to some other students accused in the case. The Bombay High Court is scheduled to hear the plea on Friday.

The 24-year-old former Development Studies student, represented by advocate Vijay Hiremath, has sought urgent protection from arrest, arguing that the gathering was a peaceful student meeting involving discussions on literature, ideas and political issues.

Student claims gathering was peaceful

The plea argues that participation in discussions and the exchange of literature and political views cannot, by themselves, be treated as criminal conduct or attract serious penal provisions.

The lawyer sought an urgent hearing on Thursday, pointing out that the student had remained protected from arrest for nearly 10 months under interim relief granted by the sessions court.

Another student whose anticipatory bail application was rejected in the same case has already been arrested and is currently in judicial custody.

The petitioner has claimed that he has no criminal antecedents and was never issued a show-cause notice by TISS for alleged misconduct or disruption on campus.

Plea disputes allegations over slogans

The former student has also challenged the allegations made in the FIR, particularly claims that students at the gathering raised slogans seeking the release of Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, both accused under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

The plea contends that the allegations against the applicant are incorrect and that the relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) have been wrongly invoked.

It argues that Section 196, concerning the promotion of enmity between groups, is not applicable because there was no speech or conduct promoting hatred or violence.

The petitioner has similarly argued that Section 197, relating to acts prejudicial to national integration, does not apply in the circumstances of the case.

Student challenges sessions court order

The plea also challenges the reasoning adopted by the sessions court while denying him pre-arrest bail.

According to the petition, the sessions court wrongly distinguished the applicant from other accused students on the basis of certain literature allegedly recovered from his possession.

The petitioner has argued that merely possessing books representing particular political or ideological viewpoints is constitutionally protected and cannot, by itself, amount to a criminal offence.

FIR dates back to October 2025

The case stems from an FIR registered at Trombay Police Station in Mumbai on October 13, 2025, following a complaint by TISS Associate Dean Dr Vaishali Banudas Kolhe.

According to the investigation, which was subsequently transferred to the Crime Branch CID, around 10 to 12 students allegedly organised an unauthorised gathering on the TISS campus on October 12, 2025.

The gathering reportedly included lighting candles, displaying posters and reciting poems, besides allegations of slogan-raising without permission from the institute.

The Bombay High Court will now consider the former student's plea for protection from arrest.