New Delhi: A Delhi court on Sunday (March 1) directed that 14 Jawaharlal Nehru University students arrested after last week’s protest be released immediately, noting that procedural formalities should not result in their continued detention after bail had already been granted.The students had been granted bail on Friday (February 27) after they were arrested during a protest organised by the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) against remarks by vice-chancellor Shantisree Dhulipudi Pandit. However, their release was delayed because the police had not completed the verification of their permanent addresses, one of the conditions set by the court.Judicial Magistrate (First Class) Ravi of the Patiala House courts said the process of verification could not become a reason to keep the accused in jail after bail had been granted. “Although the said judgment pertained to verification of surety bonds by jail authorities and police after grant of interim bail, the underlying constitutional principle is clearly that procedural formalities cannot be so protracted as to render the judicial order of bail illusory,” the judge observed, according to PTI.The arrest of the 14 students during Wednesday’s protest followed days of confrontation between students and the JNU administration. The march was planned over demands to implement a proposed Rohith Act, restore the University Grants Commission’s (UGC’s) equity regulations, reverse funding cuts to universities. The students also sought the resignation of Pandit over remarks widely criticised as derogatory and casteist. She had characterised, in a recent interview, Dalit and backward-class assertion for dignity as “playing the victim card“.The court had initially made verification of the students’ permanent addresses a pre-condition for their release, citing the fact that some of the accused had not disclosed their addresses. But since many of the students hail from different parts of the country, their lawyers said the verification process was proving time-consuming and could delay their release despite bail being granted. Since bail bonds had not yet been furnished, the students were sent to 14 days of judicial custody.The defence later moved an application seeking their immediate release without waiting for the address verification. Counsels for the students, led by advocates Abhik Chimni and Sidharth Ganeshan, argued that the accused could not be kept in jail indefinitely merely because the police required more time to verify their sureties.The prosecution opposed the request, telling the court that officers had already been sent to the students’ respective addresses across the country for verification and that releasing them without completing the process carried the risk that the accused might jump bail.The court, however, held that while address verification was an important procedural step, it could not be allowed to operate as an obstacle that prolongs judicial custody.The judge also noted that the investigating officer had acknowledged that the delay in verification was due to external factors such as travel and bank holidays, and not because of any fault on the part of the accused.Observing that the students were young and not habitual offenders, the court said keeping them behind bars despite being granted bail would be detrimental to their academic careers.