Nikita Jacob is an Indian advocate who practises in the Bombay High Court. In addition, she is a human rights and environmental activist. Nikita made headlines in February 2021 after being named in a FIR filed in the Greta Thunberg toolbox conspiracy case by the Delhi Police. On February 4, 2021, she is suspected of modifying and creating a toolkit released by Greta Thunberg.
PERSONAL INFORMATION
Nikita Jacob was born in Mumbai, Maharashtra, in 1991.
EDUCATION
Nikita Jacob finished high school at St. Joseph’s Convent School in Panchgani in 2006 and secondary school at St. Xavier’s Junior College in Mumbai. She then earned a Bachelor of Socio-Legal Sciences Bachelor of Laws (B.S.L. LL.B) from Pune’s ILS Law College, which she finished in 2013.
CAREER
While earning her 5-year legal degree, Nikita worked as an intern at different law companies. In 2013, she was admitted to the Maharashtra and Goa Bar Council after completing her degree. She enrolled with the Bombay High Court in 2015. She has worked for a number of law firms over the years, including SK Legal Associates (Mumbai) from April 2015 to November 2016, Tatva Legal (Mumbai) from November 2016 to April 2017, and advocate Girish Godbole from August 2017 to November 2020.
ACTIVISM
Nikita had been interested in activism since her college days and was a member of a human rights cell at the time. Nikita spent more than two years in college volunteering as a teacher for the NGO Make A Difference (2008-2010). She has been involved with numerous welfare organisations over the years. In 2018, she joined the global environmental campaign Extinction Rebellion as a volunteer (XR).
CASE FOR TOOLKIT
Greta Thunberg, a Swedish environmental activist, came to the aid of Indian farmers opposing the three farm regulations enacted by the Indian government in September 2020 on February 4, 2021. Greta also released a toolkit document on her Twitter account to help people better comprehend and analyse the farmers’ protest. According to Delhi Police, the toolkit was developed by a pro-Khalistani organisation in partnership with some Indian activists. According to the authorities, the toolkit was part of an international conspiracy against India and was meant to foment unrest in Delhi on January 26, 2021. The Delhi police arrested numerous persons in connection with the toolkit case, including Nikita Jacob, Disha Ravi (a teenage environmental activist), and Shantanu (a Bangalore based engineer). All three were charged with sedition, fostering hatred between groups, and criminal conspiracy under IPC Sections 124(A), 153(A), and 120(B). On February 11, 2021, a cyber cell team of the Delhi Police searched Nikita’s home in Mumbai.
During her interrogation with the Delhi Police, Nikita stated of the toolkit, “The information provided in the toolkit does not in any way promote rioting or violence and is merely an information pack comprising information from many sources… There will be no weapons, no violence, and no reference of anything remotely violent in the toolbox or any of our communications.”
She went on to say that making an informative kit for an ongoing protest was “natural and entirely legal in a democracy protected by a constitution as powerful as ours.” Nikita Jacob was arrested on a non-bailable warrant by the Delhi Police on February 15. As a result, Nikita sought remedy from the Bombay High Court. On February 16, 2021, a single bench of justice Vibha Kankanwadi granted her transit anticipatory bail in the matter for three weeks.
