Mandeep Punia Gets Bail from Delhi Court

In a big relief for Freelance Journalist Mandeep Punia, a local court in Delhi granted him bail. The Judge stressed on the cardinal principle of law that bail is a rule and jail is an exception while denying the possibility that Mr Punia will influence any police officials, 

He was detained on Saturday and sent to 14 days of judicial custody for allegedly getting into an altercation with the police personnel at the Singhu border. He has been actively covering the farm protests since last two months. It has been reported that did not possess a press ID at the time of his arrest. Mr Punia's lawyer contested before the court that the journalist was being falsely implicated in the case. No offence can be made out against him as he was doing his journalistic duties.  

Meanwhile, the arrest of the freelance journalist received criticism from all quarters. 

Media organisations have condemned Mr Punia’ s arrest.  The general consensus is that such actions by the police authorities curtail the media’s right to report freely and adhere to its journalistic duties. Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia has labelled the arrest as an attack on the democratic fa