New Delhi: On Sunday (November 1), between 150 and 200 protesters had set out to march from Ramlila Maidan to Jantar Mantar, protesting against the government’s order to denotify Jantar Mantar as a protest site. Several of those The Wire spoke to showed marks and scratches they said were caused by the police using force against them during the detentions.The INDIA bloc had on the same day held a massive rally at Ramlila Maidan, which went smoothly, without any police action.One of the protesters, Wishal, an activist with the Revolutionary Workers’ Party of India, was singled out and lifted by police personnel before being arrested.About 50 protesters were detained and taken to the Jaffarpur Kalan and Dwarka Sector 23 police stations. An FIR was registered against 24 of them under sections 223(a) (penalises the disobedience of an order lawfully promulgated by a public servant), 132 (summons/warrant in case of person not present when required), 221 (obstructing public servant in discharge of functions), 121(1) (voluntarily causing hurt or grievous hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 3(5) (crime committed by several persons in furtherance of the common intention of all) and 61(2) (party to a criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).They were kept in detention until 2 am.Wishal, meanwhile, was arrested and taken to the Connaught Place police station under sections 126 (enables an executive magistrate to issue a notice seeking cause for why someone should not execute a peace bond) and 170 (preventive detention) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). He was produced before a special executive magistrate on November 2.The activist was asked to sign a peace bond, which he refused to do, stating that peaceful protests do not constitute breaching the peace. After hearing arguments from both sides, the magistrate ruled in favour of the defence and agreed that a peace bond was not necessary for the defendant to be released, following which Wishal was let go.Growing trend of activists being made to sign peace bondsShahrukh Alam, the lawyer representing Wishal, said no such bond could be required at that stage because no inquiry had begun. The defence would contest the allegations once police provided their material, and the magistrate would then decide whether a bond was warranted, she said.The lawyer said the defence had also feared police might seek an interim peace bond under section 135(3), which allows an executive magistrate to demand an interim peace bond. But she said that provision exempts people served notices under section 126, applying instead to those facing notices under sections 127, 128 and 129, which she described as meant for “more hardcore criminals”.She said the magistrate accepted this argument. Wishal was released on a personal bond, with one surety, guaranteeing he would attend the inquiry.Alam also described the response of the authorities when the defence challenged the demand for a bond.“They had the most extraordinary argument,” she said. “They first said, ‘We are sending you to judicial custody’. When we asked why, the response was, ‘Oh, we send everyone to judicial custody’.”She continued, “And when we said, ‘Why are you asking us to sign the interim peace bond, because there is no such provision?’ They said, ‘But everyone does it’. So I think they haven’t thought this through. This is just the default position. They send everyone to judicial custody because that’s what they do with people.”Alam alleged that the state asked why it should not send her to judicial custody when it had done so to other lawyers.She said there was no legal provision for sending anyone to judicial custody after detention under section 170 or a notice under section 126. She said that students had also been sent to judicial custody recently and that she hoped the growing pushback would end the practice.Similarly, two National Students’ Union of India students were arrested during the Jamia Millia Islamia protest and only released after they signed a peace bond on October 28, after spending three days in judicial custody.Wishal alleged that the police refused him his medication while he was held at the station. He said that as he slept with a cold and a fever, an officer ordered his blanket and shawl to be taken away.He said, “We are against this method of criminalising peaceful protests. They cannot stop us from doing peaceful protests and satyagrahas with the fear of jail.”“We will keep trying to reclaim Jantar Mantar, as common people protesting in small groups cannot make their voice heard from Ramlila and Burari, and everyone should fight for the historic protest site,” he said, appealing to the INDIA bloc parties to raise the demand too.