New Delhi: A Delhi Court on Saturday discharged Umar Khalid and member of ‘United Against Hate’ Khalid Saifi in a case pertaining to the North-East Delhi riots that took place in 2020.

Both Khalid and Saifi are on bail in the FIR. However, they continue to remain in judicial custody in the UAPA case alleging a larger conspiracy behind the riots.

The FIR was registered under sections 109, 114, 147, 148, 149, 153-A, 186, 212, 353, 395, 427, 435, 436, 452, 454, 505, 34 and 120-B of IPC along with sections 3 and 4 of Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act and section 25 and 27 of Arms Act.

The case was registered on the basis of the statement of a constable wherein it was stated that a large crowd had gathered near Chand Bagh Pulia on February 24, 2020 and started pelting stones.

It was alleged that while the police officials went to a nearby parking lot to save himself, the mob broke the shutter of the parking lot and thrashed people present inside and also set the vehicles on fire. The case was thereafter transferred to the Crime Branch on February 28, 2020.

 

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Ahmedabad, Apr 25: The Gujarat Congress on Friday suspended from the party for six years its Surat Lok Sabha candidate Nilesh Kumbhani, whose nomination form was rejected over discrepancies leading to the BJP's Mukesh Dalal getting elected unopposed.

A statement from the Congress said the party's disciplinary committee decided to suspend Kumbhani after thorough discussion, adding it had come to the conclusion that the nomination form was rejected due to gross negligence on his part or "in connivance with the BJP".

"To be fair to you we have given time to you to explain your case but instead of coming before the party disciplinary committee you have gone incommunicado. After your form was rejected by the authorities, BJP went ahead and got form of other eight candidates withdrawn. This has deprived people of Surat their voting rights," the Congress disciplinary committee headed by Balu Patel said.

"People of Surat and party workers have become very angry due to your action and are expressing their anger in different ways. The Congress party has decided to suspend you for six years from the party," the press note said.

Kumbhani's nomination form was rejected on April 21 after his three proposers submitted affidavits to the district returning officer claiming the signatures on the document was not theirs.

The nomination form of Suresh Padsala, the Congress' substitute candidate from Surat, was also invalidated on the same grounds.

In his order, Returning Officer Sourabh Pardhi said the three nomination forms submitted by Kumbhani and Padsala were rejected after prima facie discrepancy was found in the signatures of the proposers and they did not appear to be genuine.

Kumbhani, a former corporator from Surat, had unsuccessfully fought the 2022 Assembly polls from Kamrej there.

The Bharatiya Janata Party's Mukesh Dalal was elected unopposed from Surat Lok Sabha constituency on April 22 after all other nominees, including one from BSP, withdrew from the fray one by one on the last day of withdrawing papers.