The Delhi High Court on Friday reserved its verdict on a bail petition filed by activist Umar Khalid in the 2020 riots case, over four months after the plea was filed, according to Bar and Bench.
The police have accused Khalid of being part of a larger conspiracy to fuel the riots in the national capital in February 2020. He had approached the High Court after the city’s Karkardooma court rejected his bail plea.
Khalid was arrested on September 13, 2020, and has been in custody since then.
Senior advocate Trideep Pais, appearing for the former Jawaharlal Nehru University student, on Friday responded to the prosecution’s argument that speeches made by Khalid and co-accused person Sharjeel Imam had the common factor of an intent to create fear among Muslims, Live Law reported.
The prosecution had argued that both Khalid and Imam had spoken about common topics such as the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, the triple talaq law and the abrogation of Article 370. Pais asked whether opposing these moves could be termed illegal by itself.
The lawyer also argued that no recoveries were made from Khalid, and that he was not even present at the sites of violence.
“The only overt act attributed to me is speech [in Maharashtra’s Amravati city],” Pais said. “And just one line ‘sadko par utar aaye’ [came out on the streets]. That was heard by many, it was a public event. It never led to violence.”
On August 1, special public prosecutor Amit Prasad, appearing for the police, contended that speeches delivered by Khalid, and other activists like Sharjeel Imam and Khalid Saifi were all linked to each other and were part of the alleged conspiracy.
He had alleged that a speech made by Khalid in Amravati in February 2020 was part of a “calculated move” as it raised matters specifically relating to the Muslim community, besides the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Citizens.
Between February 23 and February 26, 2020, clashes had broken out between supporters of the Citizenship Amendment Act and those opposing it in North East Delhi, claiming 53 lives and injuring hundreds. Most of those killed were Muslims.
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