Toolkit case: Shantanu Muluk granted anticipatory bail; order on Nikita Jacob's bail plea on February 17

File image of Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court reserved the order on the transit bail plea of activist Nikita Jacob, an accused in the "toolkit" case, for February 17.

On the other hand, the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court granted anticipatory bail to activist Shantanu Muluk, a co-accused in the case.

Both the pleas were taken up for hearing on February 16, a day after the Delhi Police issued non-bailable warrants against them.

The Delhi Police has been restrained by the court from taking any coercive action against Nikita till the order on her transit bail plea is issued, news agency ANI reported.

Delhi Police personnel had reached Maharashtra after the issuance of non-bailable warrants. The action against Mumbai-based Nikita and Beed-based Shantanu was initiated a couple of days after climate activist Disha Ravi was arrested from Bengaluru.

Disha, Shantanu and Nikita were "editors" of the toolkit document which Swedish activist Greta Thunberg had "accidentally" tweeted on February 4, Joint Commissioner of Delhi Police (Cyber) Prem Nath said on February 15.

The stated aim of the toolkit was to galvanise support for farmers protesting in India. The police, however, claimed that the first toolkit, which Greta had deleted and replaced with another toolkit in her subsequent tweet, included content that suggested a ploy to stoke "economic, cultural, regional and social tensions in India".

A day after the toolkit was shared, the Delhi Police had registered a case of sedition and criminal conspiracy against unknown persons. Disha was the first to be arrested in the case, followed by the issuance of warrants against Shantanu and Nikita.

The Delhi Police has claimed that Shantanu and Nikita also attended a video meeting over Zoom platform that was organised by pro-Khalistani group Poetic Justice Foundation (PJF). The virtual meeting was held on January 11, days before the violence that erupted in Delhi on January 26, the police said.