Factors such as age, gender, and profession cannot be relevant in assessing culpability in a crime, said Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday, defending the arrest of 22-year-old climate activist Disha Ravi by the Delhi Police, and added that her arrest in the “toolkit” case was explained by police

Shah said that the nature of a criminal case should not be judged on irrelevant factors as he refused to elaborate on the “merits” of the investigation, as he added that the police is handling the case “meticulously.” 

The Home Minister was talking to ABP News in Kolkata, where, in a response to questions raised on Ravi’s arrest, he said, “When a person commits a crime, will a crime or culpability be decided on the basis of gender, age, and profession?”

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Shah said that there is no political pressure on the Delhi Police, as they have been given free hand to deal with the case, and they are acting as per the law. Therefore, he further said that he will not talk about the “merits of  the case.”  

“Do you ask the age of someone who commits a crime?” the 56-year-old said, as he was, apparently asked a question focusing on Ravi’s age and environmental activism, the Times of India quotes. 

Ravi was arrested by the Delhi Police on February 13 from Bengaluru in connection with Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg’s toolkit case. The controversy around the toolkit case begun after Thunberg shared the toolkit on her Twitter account, which caught the eye of the Delhi Police, after which an enquiry was launched into the same. 

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Shah said there was a little scope of error by the Delhi Police, however, he added, for quashing the case, one can approach the court and “seek remedy if he or she feels that there is no evidence.”

He questioned the trend of people talking about the profession, association, and age in terms of a case,” and criticised media reports saying why Ravi, a 22-year-old was singled out. 

Shah said, “There might be many other 22- year-olds who would have been arrested.”