NEW DELHI: Former JNU student Umar Khalid on Friday questioned before Delhi High Court the basis on which police made him an accused in a UAPA case related to the alleged larger conspiracy behind the Feb 2020 northeast Delhi riots.
Appearing before Justices Navin Chawla and Shalinder Kaur, senior advocate Trideep Pais maintained that no criminality was alleged against many persons who allegedly attended the conspiracy meetings or made phone calls after the violence. He said photos of one of the meetings were posted on social media by the participants, but police claimed it was a secret meeting.
"There was a meeting; the bulk of the meeting is not an accused. How am I an accused? There are two from the meeting who are accused? One Sharjeel Imam and myself. How are we accused when others are not?" asked the senior lawyer.
He referred to Swaraj India leader Yogendra Yadav and filmmaker Rahul Roy, who were not accused in the case despite their presence in the alleged conspiracy meetings and a purported WhatsApp group. The bench heard submissions of counsel appearing for RJD youth wing leader and Jamia Millia Islamia student Meeran Haider.
Khalid, Imam and several others were booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and IPC provisions for allegedly being the "masterminds" of the Feb 2020 riots.
Pais said Khalid was seeking bail on the grounds of a long period of incarceration — over four years — without trial. He cited lack of parity with co-accused Devangana Kalita, Natasha Narwal, Asif Iqbal Tanha, and Ishrat Jahan, who were out on bail.
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