Supreme Court seeks response of Centre on Umar Khalid’s plea challenging UAPA provisions | India News
File photo of Umar Khalid. (Photo credit: PTI)
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notice to the Centre and sought its response on a plea filed by former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Umar Khalid challenging various provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
A bench comprising Justice Aniruddha Bose and Justice Bela M Trivedi also said that it would hear similar pleas on the issue as well as the bail plea of Khalid, who is lodged under the UAPA facing conspiracy charges in Delhi riots 2020, on November 22. “Let them all be taken together,” the top court bench said.
Khalid challenged Delhi High Court order
Khalid was arrested by Delhi Police in September 2020 in the 2020 Delhi riots case and he has challenged a Delhi High Court order refusing to grant him bail. He has sought bail on grounds that he neither had any criminal role in the violence nor any “conspiratorial connect” with any other accused in the Delhi riots case.
Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and others are facing various charges in 2020 Delhi riots
The Delhi Police booked Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, and several others under the UAPA as well as several provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for allegedly being the “masterminds” of the February 2020 riots in the national capital resulting in the death of 53 persons and injuries to over 700.
Why Delhi High Court denied Khalid bail?
The Delhi High Court, while denying bail to Khalid, had said allegations against him are prima facie true and that he was in constant touch with other persons, who are the co-accused in the case. It had also said that there exists a string of commonality which runs against all the co-accused and the weapons used, the manner of attack and the resultant deaths, destruction caused indicates that the 2020 riots was pre-planned.
Also read: Supreme Court judge recuses himself from hearing Umar Khalid bail plea in Delhi riots 2020 case
Delhi High Court upheld trial court order denying bail to Khalid
The High Court, while upholding the trial court order, said that the protests planned against CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) and NRC (National Register of Citizen) by Khalid and others were “not a typical protest” normal in political culture or democracy but one far more destructive and injurious geared towards extremely grave consequences.
