New Delhi, June 18 (TIWN) The Centre on Friday unleashed a barrage of criticism on the Delhi High Court order granting bail to three student-activists accused in a case of "larger conspiracy" related to the February 2020 northeast Delhi riots, which claimed 53 lives and left 700 injured.

"The issue is important. It has pan India ramifications and so we would like to issue notice and decide the matter for the good of the country," the Supreme Court said. 

This comes a day after a Delhi court ordered immediate release of Narwal, Kalita and Tanha who were arrested following the anti-Citizenship Amendment Bill protests in Delhi in 2020.The student activists, who were granted bail by the Delhi high court on June 15 in a case filed under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, were kept in jail despite being granted bail and were released after a court ordered their release. 

Narwal and Kalita are students of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) while Tanha was a student from Jamia Millia Islamia.  Terming as “somewhat vague” the definition of “terrorist act” under the stringent UAPA laws and warning against its use in a “cavalier manner”, the high court set aside the trial court orders denying bail to the student activists.

“We are of the view that the foundations of our nation stand on surer footing than to be likely to be shaken by a protest, however vicious, organised by a tribe of college students or other persons, operating as a coordination committee from the confines of a University situate in the heart of Delhi,” the high court had said.  In three separate judgments of 113, 83 and 72 pages, the high court had said that although the definition of ‘terrorist act’ in section 15 of the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) is wide and somewhat vague, it must partake the essential character of terrorism and the phrase ‘terrorist act’ cannot be permitted to be applied in a “cavalier manner” to criminal acts that squarely fall under the IPC.