Delhi Riots 2020: HC to pronounce verdict tomorrow on bail plea by Umar Khalid
New Delhi, Oct 17: The Delhi High Court will on Tuesday pronounce its verdict on a bail plea by former JNU student Umar Khalid, who was arrested over two years, in a UAPA case related to the alleged conspiracy behind the February 2020 riots in the city.
A bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Rajnish Bhatnagar had on September 9 reserved its order on the plea.
Khalid has argued that neither did he have a "criminal role" in the violence in North-east Delhi nor any "conspiratorial connect" with the other accused in the case.
He has submitted that there is no material to support the case of the prosecution against him and his Amravati speech in February 2020 which forms the basis of the allegations against him not only had a categorical call for non-violence but also did not lead to violence anywhere.
The Delhi Police opposed the bail plea by Khalid, saying the speech delivered by him was a "very calculated" and brought up issues like Babri Masjid, triple talaq, Kashmir, the alleged suppression of Muslims and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC).
The agency has argued that riots happened in two phases, first in 2019 and then in February 2020, and that misinformation was spread during the riots apart from blockade of roads, attack on police personnel and paramilitary forces, violence in non-Muslim areas, etc.
It has contended that the speeches delivered by various accused in the case have one common factor that "the essence was to create a sense of fear in the Muslim population".
Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, and several others have been booked under the anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and provisions of the Indian Penal Code for allegedly being the "masterminds" of the February 2020 riots, which had left 53 people dead and over 700 injured.
The violence had erupted during the protests against CAA and NRC.
The high court had issued notice to the Delhi Police on Khalid's bail plea in April.
Khalid was arrested by Delhi Police in September 2020.
Besides Khalid, activist Khalid Saifi, JNU students Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita, Jamia Coordination Committee members Safoora Zargar, former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain and several others have also been booked under the stringent law in the case.
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Mamata’s decision not to quit part of her protest against Centre, EC: Raut
Mumbai (PTI): Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday backed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s decision not to quit after her defeat in the assembly polls, calling it a part of her protest against the Centre and the Election Commission of India.
Talking to reporters, Raut asserted that it is necessary to unite against the “dictatorship of the Centre and partisan behaviour of the Election Commission”. He said the poll body has become “slaves” of the Centre.
The Opposition has to decide whether it has to contest the polls or not, he said.
“Mamata Banerjee is not resigning is part of her agitation against the government (Centre), the Election Commission (EC) and a series of acts against democracy,” Raut said.
It has to be seen what direction the agitation takes, he added.
Alleging that the West Bengal assembly poll verdict was “not a people's mandate but a conspiracy”, Banerjee on Tuesday refused to resign as chief minister.
The BJP sealed a landslide victory with 207 seats in the 294-member assembly, ending the TMC’s uninterrupted 15-year rule. Banerjee dismissed the outcome as “engineered” and asserted that her party was fighting the Election Commission, not the BJP. The TMC could only manage 80 seats.
In a post on Facebook, Raut said Banerjee’s decision not to quit is fully justified. He also sought to draw a parallel with the 2022 Maharashtra political crisis.
The then Chief Justice of India had observed during hearings on petitions seeking the disqualification of rebel MLAs of the undivided Shiv Sena that Uddhav Thackeray, who headed the party at the time, could have been reinstated as chief minister had he not resigned, Raut said.
The Rajya Sabha MP said Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray had called up Banerjee after the polls and extended support. Almost all INDIA bloc leaders have called Banerjee and extended their support to her.
“We have to come together if we have to unite against the dictatorship of the Centre and the partisan behaviour of the EC or the way the poll body has become slaves of the government,” Raut said.
He claimed that even many in the government do not agree with the “degradation of democracy”.
