Donate to PM Cares fund, download Aarogya Setu app: HC's conditions for ex-BJP MP bail

Ranchi, Apr 18: The Jharkhand High Court granted bail to former BJP MP Som Marandi and five others in a case relating to blocking railway tracks during an agitation in 2012, but asked them to deposit Rs 35,000 each to the PM-CARES fund and download the Aarogya Setu app as a condition.

Allowing the bail through video-conference on Thursday, the bench of Justice Anubha Rawat Choudhary asked the six accused to provide evidence of the deposit and the download after being released, assistant public prosecuter Rakesh Kumar Sinha said.

The court said all the accused are also instructed to abide by the guidelines issued by the Centre and the state government regarding COVID-19.

The five other accused are Vivekanand Tiwari, Amit Agrawal, Hisabi Rai, Sanchay Bardhan and Anugrha Narayan.

On March 28, the Centre set up the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES) Fund with the primary objective to deal with any kind of emergency situation like the one currently posed by the COVID-19 outbreak and provide relief to those affected.

The government's Aarogya Setu app alerts people if any known or person in their vicinity has tested positive for coronavirus infection.

The accused, booked in connection with a "rail roko" agitation in March 2012, were arrested in February this year.

A GRP court had held them guilty and sentenced them to a year in prison. Later, the sentence was confirmed by a court in Pakur district. They then moved the High Court against the verdict.