Delhi Riots UAPA Case | Police Plays Clips Of Sharjeel Imam's Speeches In Supreme Court; Says Accused Are 'Anti-Nationals'

The Delhi Police on Thursday continued its arguments opposing the the petitions filed by Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, Md Saleem Khan and Shadab Ahmed in the Delhi riots larger conspiracy case in which they are charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.A bench comprising Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice NV Anjaria heard the matter.Today, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, for the Delhi Police, played in the Court certain video clips of the provocative speeches made by Sharjeel Imam. The clips showed Imam making statements such as chakka-jams must be held in all Indian cities, Muslims must unite to cut off the 'chicken neck' area connecting India to Assam and cut-off north-east from the mainland, must disrupt supplies of essentials to Delhi, must paralyse the Government, and that the Courts cannot be trusted.When the bench asked if the speeches were part of the evidence, the ASG replied in the affirmative.Senior Advocate Siddharth Dave, Imam's lawyer, submitted that the clips were selectively showing portions of speeches without the full context. Referring to various WhatsApp messages in groups such as Delhi Protest Support Group (DPSG), Jamia Awareness Campaign Team, ASG argued that the attempt of the accused was to "overthrow the Government" and to cause a "regime change" through violent riots. The riots were planned to coincide with the visit of US President Donald Trump.ASG called the accused persons "anti-nationals and nuisances, who are donning the facade of intellectuals and activists.""Whenever the bail matter comes, New York Times carries something. Social media becomes active without realising that they are anti-nationals under the facade of being intellectuals," the ASG said.ASG Raju submitted that a narrative was being built in the media and social media that the accused persons are intellectuals who are paying the price for organising the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, whereas their actual aim was to cause violent overthrow of the government using the protests as a front.Making a veiled reference to the recent Delhi Red Fort bomb blast and the busting of a terror module consisting of doctors, ASG said that educated radicals are more dangerous."He(Sharjeel Imam) is an engineer. Now the trend has become that doctors, engineers, and intellectuals are not doing their profession but engaging in anti-national activities...Intellectuals when they guide and become terrorists, they become more dangerous than those ground level working terrorist...Intellectuals who have degree through State support, engineering and medical degrees there are a lot of State funds and subsidies, they use State subsidies and become doctors, and they [indulge] in these activities. These types of intellectuals are dangerous. Whenever the bail application comes, there is a narrative built that oh, he is an intellectual and he unnecessary being hounded ," ASG said.The ASG also cited the statements of certain protected witnesses. At this juncture, Justice Kumar asked if the Court could evaluate the evidence in a bail hearing. ASG said that the Court need not go into the correctness of the evidence and clarified that his attempt was to show that there was evidence for a prima facie case.The hearing will continue tomorrow.On Monday, the Delhi Police argued that Umar Khalid cannot claim parity with Devangana Kalita, Natasha Narwal and Asif Iqbal Tanha, the co-accused in the Delhi riots larger conspiracy case, as the 2021 order of the Delhi High Court giving them bail was passed on an incorrect interpretation of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).Before the ASG, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had briefly addressed the bench, arguing that the public statements of the accused reflect a pre-planned conspiracy to attack the sovereignty of the nation. The petitioners have completed their arguments.The Special Leave Petitions are filed against the September 2 judgment of the Delhi High Court which dismissed their bail pleas. The petitioners have been in custody for over five years.The petitioners, who were student activists in the forefront of organising anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests in 2019-2020, are facing charges under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and the Indian Penal Code for allegedly formulating the "larger conspiracy" behind the communal riots which took place in the national capital in the last week of February 2020.The accused in the case are Tahir Hussain, Umar Khalid, Khalid Saifi, Isharat Jahan, Meeran Haider, Gulfisha Fatima, Shifa-Ur-Rehman, Asif Iqbal Tanha(granted bail in 2021), Shadab Ahmed, Tasleem Ahmed, Saleem Malik, Mohd. Saleem Khan, Athar Khan, Safoora Zargar(granted bail on humanitarian grounds as she was pregnant when arrested), Sharjeel Imam, Faizan Khan, Devangana Kalita (granted bail) and Natasha Narwal(granted bail).The September 2 judgment denied bail to Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Athar...

Delhi Riots UAPA Case | Police Plays Clips Of Sharjeel Imam's Speeches In Supreme Court; Says Accused Are 'Anti-Nationals'

Gursimran Kaur Bakshi

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