The Delhi High Court on Wednesday reserved its verdict on bail petitions of seven persons arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act over the larger conspiracy leading to riots in North-east Delhi in 2020.
After hearing arguments for some time, the Division Bench of Justice Naveen Chawla and Justice Shalinder Kaur reserved its judgment on bail petitions of all accused except Shadab Ahmed and listed his bail plea for further hearing at 4:00 pm on Thursday.
It further asked Special Public Prosecutor Amit Prasad, appearing for the Delhi Police, to address arguments specifically on Ahmed’s contentions that he was granted bail in another FIR against him and that there were contradictions in statements of protected witnesses.
The High Court directed the parties to file written submissions within three days.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta opposed the bail pleas of Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Mohd Saleem Khan, Shifa ur Rehman, Athar Khan, Khalid Saifi and Gulfisha Fatima.
Appearing on behalf of the Delhi Police, he argued that if the accused were doing something against the nation, then they ought to be in jail till they were acquitted or convicted.
Calling the investigation in the case as one of the ‘finest’ carried out till date, the SG said the pre-planned riots were organised to achieve a sinister goal which by itself was an example enough to disqualify them from seeking any relief of bail.
This was not just a regular riot case, wherein bail could be granted on the grounds of long incarceration. It was a very well-thought and perfectly orchestrated criminal conspiracy, which began in the capital of the country, aiming at a particular day and time.
The intention of the accused was to cause national embarrassment at the global level.
Citing the purported speeches made by Sharjeel Imam referring to Assam, the SG said the comments were aimed at dividing and cutting the nation permanently, based on a particular religion.
All the phone numbers used by the accused, including Umar Khalid, were based on false and fake documents.
The petitioners showed a narrative that intellectuals were in jail. This was not a spontaneous riot. They chose a particular date – February 24, 2020, when US President Donald Trump was on an official visit to India, to defame India before the world.
Sharjeel delivered a clear timeline. He said they had four weeks. There was a clear unambiguous intention of putting the entire nation to shame by doing something in the national capital, when the President of another country was visiting India. On February 23 2020, riots broke in the national capital.
Referring to the coverage of the 2020 riots, the SG said the riots were organised with the intent that global media took note and the country was ashamed.
Citing an article published in The Guardian, the SG said the photographs of violence was all over the place. This is what Sharjeel Imam meant when he said they have four weeks to give Delhi a big shock.
Everyone, from Gulfisha to Umar Khalid, acted in concert. They were constantly in touch with each other through a WhatsApp group, he noted.
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