Kashmir

interim bail

sedition

MYSURU: The girl who was in the eye of a storm over holding a 'Free' placard during a solidarity march with JNU students here, on Friday offered unconditional apologies for her act and said her protest was wrongly misinterpreted.In the video, Mysuru girl said that she was the one who displayed the placard at University of Mysore. "I had no intention of creating any hatred, but wanted to bring the issue of internet shut down in J&K and I don't belong to any organisation and I'm ready to cooperate with the police for the investigation. I'm sorry for creating confusion," she said in a minute long video.The girl, identified as Nalini B, issued the clarification on the day she obtainedfrom a city court in thecase slapped on her for the placard fiasco. In the order, II additional district and sessions court judge JR Mendonca asked Nalini to not repeat the offence or tamper with evidence. She has been directed to not leave the court's jurisdiction.A judge on Friday provided protection from arrest to Nalini B, the woman who faces sedition charges for allegedly holding a ‘Free Kashmir’ placard at a recent protest against the JNU violence at University of Mysore’s Manasagangotri campus.Fearing arrest, Nalini had moved court seeking interim bail. Second additional district and sessions court judge JR Mendonca granted her the reprieve and asked her to furnish a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh. She also been instructed not to leave the court’s jurisdictional limits. TOI has a copy of the order.The interim bail will be valid till further orders are issued or Nalini’s petition is disposed of, whichever is earliest. A hearing of the petition has been scheduled for January 14.The woman, an alumna of the university, is among at least six people who have been booked in the sedition case linked to the placard, which was displayed during the campus protest on Wednesday evening. Earlier, only Maridevaiah, president of the University of Mysore Research Scholars’ Association, one of the groups that organised the demonstration, had been named in the FIR.Mysuru police chief KT Balakrishna told TOI on Friday that notices had been served on six members of students’ groups that were involved in holding the stir. They have been asked to explain the display of the banner. He clarified that police had not moved to arrest anyone yet. Youngsters associated with the scholars’ association, Dalit Students’ Welfare, Bahujan Vidyarthi Sangha, Students’ Federation of India and All India Democratic Students’ Organisation held a dharna on the Manasagangotri campus after a torchlight march.After pictures of the ‘Free Kashmir’ banner surfaced online, police registered a complaint on their own. Nalini, Maridevaiah and others were booked under sections 124-A (sedition) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code. The sedition charge can result in a prison term of up to three years to life, depending on the seriousness of the offence.Mysuru police relied on pictures and videos circulated on social media to identify some protesters. Officers also identified Nalini as the woman who allegedly held the banner and located her residence.