Punjabi actor-activist Deep Sidhu was granted bail by a Delhi court on Monday in a second case related to the violence on Republic Day during the tractor rally by farmers protesting against the new agricultural laws.
The court granted bail to Deep Sidhu in a case registered by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) alleging damage to public property during the farmers' tractor parade violence on Republic Day at Red Fort.
The court order read, "The accused has already been interrogated in PC for 14 days and has been in custody for about 70 days when he has been granted regular bail by Ld. ASJ on similar facts. Any further restraint upon his liberty would be neither logical nor legal. Hence, applicant/accused Sandeep Singh Sidhu @ Deep Sidhu is admitted to bail in case FIR No. 98/2021.."
Sidhu was arrested in the ASI FIR on April 17, a day after he got bail in the FIR concerning the Red Fort violence. There are two FIRs that have been registered against Sidhu in connection with the violence on Republic Day. In the first FIR, he was granted bail by a sessions court and hours later he was arrested by the Crime Branch in connection with the second FIR.
Calling his arrest, right after being granted bail in the first case related to the same incident, a “vicious and sinister action”, the court said it “amounts to playing fraud with the established criminal process.”
The Court further said, "Applicant’s further incarceration in the present case would bear no fruit and therefore would be unjustified, nor would the restoration of applicant’s liberty be detrimental to the investigation being conducted by the police authorities."
Sidhu was arrested in February from Karnal in Haryana by the Delhi Police Special Cell in the case concerning the violence that took place at Red Fort on January 26 during the farmers' tractor rally.
Chaotic scenes were witnessed at the Red Fort in Delhi during the farmers' tractor parade as some miscreants clashed with the police. As violent scenes were being reported from several parts of Delhi, many protesters reached the Red Fort and entered the monument.