HC asks police not to take coercive measures against DMC chief till Jun 22 in sedition case
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court Tuesday directed the police not to take any coercive measure against Delhi Minorities Commission (DMC) Chairman Zafarul Islam Khan in the sedition case till June 22, his lawyer said.
Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri, who conducted hearing through video conferencing, also asked the police to give prior notice to Khan if called for investigation, his lawyer Vrinda Grover said.
Khan approached the high court seeking anticipatory bail in the sedition case lodged against him, citing his old age, health issues and risk of the coronavirus or COVID-19 infection.
The court asked Delhi Police to file a status report on the anticipatory bail plea and listed the matter for further hearing on June 22. On April 28, Khan published through his official page on social media a post that allegedly had seditious and hateful comments.
On May 2, based on a complaint, the Delhi Police Special Cell lodged an FIR against Khan under Sections 124A and 153A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for the alleged offences of sedition and promoting feelings of hatred between different groups on the grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence and language.
Khan sought anticipatory bail on the ground that he is a public servant and a senior citizen aged 72 years, who suffers from heart disease and hypertension and is highly susceptible to COVID-19 infection which can have fatal consequences for a person of his age and health condition.
In these circumstances there is an urgent need to grant him protection from arrest and coercive action in a frivolous and untenable case, in order to safeguard his liberty as the failure to do so will have irreversible consequences on his right to life, the petition filed through advocates Vrinda Grover, Ratna Appnender and Soutik Banerjee said.
The plea has sought direction to the police that in the event of his arrest, he be immediately released on bail and that no coercive measures be taken against him. It also sought direction that Khan's laptop and mobile should not be seized.
The plea claimed that no offence has been committed by Khan and the FIR has been registered with a mala fide intention to harass and intimidate him.
It said the FIR against him was "misconceived, being made on a misrepresentation of facts and an erroneous, untenable reading of the law .
Khan claimed in the plea that his social media post was falsely reported, distorted and sensationalised out of context by certain sections of the media to embarrass him and to tarnish his stellar work that he has been doing as Chairman of the commission.
Alarmed that his social media post was being maliciously and knowingly distorted and false meanings and motives attributed to his words, the petitioner (Khan) responded through his social media posts dated April 29, 2020, and further on May 1, 2020, the petitioner elaborated on his original tweet and clarified the distortions and misrepresentations by sections of the media, the plea said.
It said that despite the clarifications, a communal and politically motivated misinformation campaign was orchestrated against Khan to undermine the good work done by him over 20 years.
After almost a week since registration of the FIR, Khan was not served with any legal notice for interrogation and on the evening of May 6, when he was settling down for Iftaar, a police team came to his residence and orally asked him to accompany them to the Cyber Cell Police Station, it said.
The plea added that the police did not give any written notice to him as mandated under the CrPC.
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Missing Kota NEET aspirant traced in Uttar Pradesh
Kota, May 14: A 19-year-old NEET aspirant who went missing from his PG room here has been traced in Uttar Pradesh, Kota police said on Tuesday.
Bihar native Aman Kumar Singh left his paying guest room in Swarn Vihar colony on the intervening night of May 11 and 12, police said.
The Kota police swung into action and through technical investigation and inquiry, they traced Singh’s location in Uttar Pradesh’s Kushinagar. The local police were contacted and the whereabouts of the missing teen were shared with them and they rescued him on Monday night, Kota city SP Amrita Duhan said on Tuesday.
A team of Kota police was also dispatched to Khushinagar, she added.
Kunhari circle inspector Arvind Bhrdwaj said the boy was traced on Monday night and is being brought to Kota by the city police.
It is clear that the student reached there by his wish. Further details will be ascertained after his statement is recorded here, Bhrdwaj said
Singh had been preparing for the entrance exam in the coaching hub for the last two years. He left his phone and a note behind in which he said that he couldn't do well in the NEET exam and won't be able to crack it, police had said.
On the basis of CCTV footage, it was found that Singh got onto a bike with another boy and reached Kota Railway Station from where he boarded a train, DSP Rajesh Soni said.
Singh, in his note, asked the readers to look for him near the Kota Barrage, located over the Chambal river, but the police couldn’t find him there. It is suspected that the student left the note in his room to misguide the police and his parents, he said.
On May 6, Rajasthan native Rajendra Prasad Meena (19) went missing from his PG room here. He sent a text message to his parents saying that he did not want to study any further and was leaving home for five years.
Meena wrote that he had Rs 8,000 with him and would contact his family or other relatives if need be.
Meena is yet to be traced.
