Delhi Riots 2020: High Court seeks police stand on bail plea of Shifa-ur-Rehman.
Highlight
- Delhi High Court today sought the stand of the city police on a petition by AAJMI President Shifa-ur-Rehman
- Shifa was seeking bail in the UAPA case related to the alleged larger conspiracy behind the riots on February 20
- A bench headed by Justice Mukta Gupta issued notice on the appeal of the accused.
Delhi Riots 2020The Delhi High Court on Friday (June 3) sought the stand of the city police on a plea by Shifa-ur-Rehman, president of alumni union Jamia Millia Islamia (AAJMI), seeking bail in a UAPA case related to an alleged larger conspiracy. There were riots here in February 2020.
A bench headed by Justice Mukta Gupta issued notice on the appeal of the accused challenging the rejection of his bail by the trial court and directed that the matter be listed before another bench dealing with bail applications of other accused in the case. .
“List the appeal before a bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Rajneesh Bhatnagar on July 3 subject to the order of the Acting Chief Justice. In the meantime, a status report be filed,” said the bench also comprising Justice Anish Dayal.
Some bail matters related to same conspiracy are already pending before other bench, says special public prosecutor
Special Public Prosecutor Amit Prasad informed the court that some bail matters relating to the same conspiracy are already pending before another bench.
Shifa-ur-Rehman and several others have been booked under provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Indian Penal Code for being the “mastermind” of the February 2020 riots. In which 53 people died and more than 700 people were injured.
Violence broke out during the protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens. Apart from the present accused, the police also chargesheeted former JNU student leader Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, United Against Hate activist Khalid Saifi, former Congress councilor Ishrat Jahan, cage break activist Gulfisha Fatima, Safoora Zargar, Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita. has been filed. And in this case former AAP councilor Tahir Hussain.
The bail applications of Khalid and Imam are already pending before a bench headed by Justice Mridul.
On 7 April, the trial court had dismissed Rehman’s bail plea holding that there were reasonable grounds to hold that the allegation against the accused was “prima facie” true.
The prosecution, opposing the bail application before the trial court, had said there are statements of several witnesses, including protected public witnesses, which expose the objectionable material against the accused.
It had said that a comprehensive reading of all the statements reveals the role of accused Rehman in the context of the conspiracy and the riots.
It had also argued that the accused was a member of Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC) and WhatsApp group of JMI Coordination Committee and others.
(with PTI inputs)