A Mumbai court on Friday denied anticipatory bail to two students of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences who were booked for allegedly shouting slogans in support of jailed activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, The Indian Express reported.

The students have also been booked for possessing downloaded books and other material that the prosecution alleges reflects Maoist ideology.

Seven others, who were also booked after taking part in an event in October commemorating the death anniversary of former Delhi University professor GN Saibaba, were granted anticipatory bail, the newspaper reported.

On Friday, the court said that while paying homage to Saibaba was not unlawful, the allegations that the students had shouted slogans in support of Khalid and Imam, along with the material recovered from their electronic devices, weighed against granting them anticipatory bail, The Indian Express reported.

“Being students, it was expected from accused persons to respect the law of land,” the newspaper quoted the judge as saying.

Khalid and Imam have been in jail for more than five years under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act for their alleged role in a conspiracy behind the 2020 Delhi riots.

Saibaba, who had more than 90% disability and used a wheelchair, spent over seven years in jail on accusations of having links with Maoists. In March 2024, he was acquitted by the Bombay High Court and released. Seven months later, in October 2024, he died of post-operative complications in Hyderabad.

In October 2025, some students of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences gathered on campus to light candles and display posters of Saibaba to commemorate his death anniversary.

The police had filed the case against the students who attended the event based on a complaint by the institute’s administration. The first information report invoked charges of causing prejudice to the nation, causing enmity between groups and participating in unlawful assembly, among others.

In their anticipatory bail applications, the two students denied shouting any slogans. They contended that they had been booked based on “false narratives” spread on social media.

They also stated that while the institute’s administration had claimed that other students had reported the slogans, there was no evidence on record to support the allegation, The Indian Express reported.

Special Public Prosecutor Shishir Hirey opposed the students’ pleas, arguing that “objectionable material” had been recovered from the electronic devices, the newspaper reported. The material relates to Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong, Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin and publications of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist).

The students’ lawyer argued that the material did not establish any links to Maoist ideology and that the literature was freely available for purchase.

*Edited by Sara Varghese. *

Also read: ‘Your careers are ruined’: Judge tells TISS students booked for GN Saibaba death anniversary event

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