After the arrest of ‘activist’ Disha Ravi from Bengaluru yesterday, the Delhi court has issued a non-bailable warrant against two accused named Nikita Jacob and Shantanu in the Greta Thunberg ‘Toolkit’ case. Reportedly, they were involved in the creation, editing and distribution of the toolkit that details a global plan to destabilise India. Now, Nikita Jacob, who was thus far absconding, has filed for an anticipatory bail in the High Court.
Advocate Nikita Jacob has filed an anticipatory bail plea before the Bombay High Court fearing arrest in connection with the Delhi Police’s case against the toolkit creators. Reportedly, Nikita Jacob has stated in her plea that she had no intentions of inciting violence, as alleged by the Delhi Police.
Interestingly, it seems like Jacob and her lawyers have come up with an interesting reason to ensure that her digital footprint is not looked into by the Delhi Police. In her petition, Nikita Jacob has claimed that the electronic devices seized by the Delhi Police had confidential information that would breach attorney-client privilege if they are looked into.
Jacob has claimed that she is ready to cooperate with the investigation and has sought transit anticipatory bail for a period of 4 weeks from the date of the HC order and a copy of the FIR. Speaking to Republic TV, Jacob’s lawyer Sanjukta Dey refuted the charge that her client is absconding and revealed that the Bombay HC will hear the matter on Tuesday.
Nikita Jacob spoke to Khalistani Mo Dhaliwal, says Delhi Police
As per the reports, the two activists Disha Ravi (who has now been arrested) and Nikita Jacob (who is now reportedly absconding) took part in an online meeting with Poetic Justice Foundation’s Mo Dhaliwal, who had earlier declared that he is a ‘proud Khalistani’, to discuss and plan a Twitter storm ahead of India’s Republic Day, which saw a massive insurrection attempt and widespread violence by so-called farmers in Delhi. In the Zoom meeting, the group had formulated a plan to post messages, graphics and videos ahead of Republic Day to spread their propaganda against India in the background of farmer protests.
Zee News reported that during the meeting in which Mo Dhaliwal was one of the attendees, it was planned how they could agitate the farmers and spread violence on the Republic Day. Mo Dhaliwal had said that they have to make the issue visible on the international platform. To ensure they succeed in their plan, they decided to contact celebrities, including Greta Thunberg, Rihanna and others.
Greta Thunberg Toolkit case
On February 4, Swedish ‘Andolanjeevi’ Greta Thunberg had shared a ‘toolkit’ on Twitter that had step-by-step instructions on how her followers can ‘support’ farmers protests. The file had several interlinked documents dated back months. The connection between the pro-Khalistani organization, Poetic Justice Foundation, raised questions over the authenticity of the support Greta was providing for the Farmer Protests. The toolkit provided a detailed roadmap to organise widespread support and mobilisation to create nation-wide protests in India. It also stressed a lot about organising a campaign that would see India’s image besmirched on the world stage.
After the backlash, Greta removed the tweet and posted an edited version claiming the old file was outdated. Delhi Police recently arrested one Disha Ravi from Bengaluru who had allegedly helped create the toolkit and shared with Greta. Disha is a founding member of Fridays for Future’s India’s chapter, Greta Thunberg’s NGO. Delhi Police also said that Disha allegedly asked Greta to remove the toolkit from her Twitter profile.
A High Court Lawyer and activist from Mumbai, Nikita Jacob was one of the editors of Greta Thunberg Toolkit. It has been alleged that she was Aam Aadmi Party member as well. While checking the documents, it came to light that Nikita Jacob had been allegedly editing documents much before it got viral on social media platforms, thanks to Thunberg. After her name appeared in the reports, Jacob had deleted her social media accounts.
It is notable here that after the ‘toolkit’ drew sharp reaction from the public and government officials in India. especially because of the Red Fort violence, Google had agreed to provide details of individuals who have been involved in the creation and editing of the document on its platform to the Indian government.
