Umar Khalid Files Petition In Supreme Court Challenging UAPA Provisions

Former JNU scholar and activist Umar Khalid, who is an undertrial prisoner in the Delhi riots larger conspiracy case, has filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court challenging various provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi on Friday (October 20) tagged the petition along with earlier petitions filed challenging the constitutionality of UAPA provisions.Khalid has been behind bars for over three years, since September 2020, awaiting his trial under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for his alleged involvement in the larger conspiracy surrounding the communal violence that broke out in February 2020 in Delhi.Although the bench agreed to tag the petition with other petitions against the anti-terror law, Justice Bose asked Khalid's lawyer, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, during the hearing, "Why bring so many writ petitions when one would suffice?"Sibal explained, "This is a constitutional issue. So many things are happening forcing our hands. When enough petitions are there, we can tell the chief justice that it is affecting a number of people and ask for a hearing. If there's only one petition, it gets delayed.""I'm sure," Justice Bose replied, "Even a single petition raising a very important can be heard..."Khalid has also filed a petition seeking bail in the case, which the Court has posted for hearing on November 1.BackgroundKhalid, a former scholar and researcher from Jawaharlal Nehru University, is one of the accused in the larger conspiracy case relating to the 2020 North-East Delhi communal riots case. He has been accused along with 59 others, including Pinjra Tod members Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal, Jamia Millia Islamia student Asif Iqbal Tanha, and student activist Gulfisha Fatima.Others who have been charge-sheeted in the case include former Congress councillor Ishrat Jahan, Jamia Coordination Committee members Safoora Zargar, Meeran Haider, and Shifa-Ur-Rehman, former Aam Aadmi Party councillor Tahir Hussain, activist Khalid Saifi, Shadab Ahmed, Tasleem Ahmed, Mohd Salim Khan, and Athar Khan.Khalid and JNU student Sharjeel Imam were the last to be charge-sheeted in the case. Zargar, Kalita, Narwal, Tanha, and Jahan have already been granted bail. Kalita, Narwhal, and Tanha were granted bail by a division bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani last year.Khalid has been booked under Sections 13, 16, 17, and 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, Sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act, 1959, and Sections 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984.Last year, in October, the Delhi High Court upheld a March 2022 order of a trial court denying Khalid bail. A division bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Rajnish Bhatnagar observed that the protests against Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA) were geared towards the 2020 North-East Delhi riots through various ‘conspiratorial meetings’ held from December 2019 till February 2020, some of which were also attended by Khalid.In the order, the high court also took a serious view of Khalid using the words ‘inquilabli salam’ (revolutionary salute) and ‘krantikari istiqbal’ (revolutionary welcome) in a speech given in Amaravati in February 2020, considering it to be an incitement of violence. “Revolution by itself isn’t always bloodless, which is why it is contradistinctly used with the prefix - a ‘bloodless’ revolution. So, when we use the expression ‘revolution’, it is not necessarily bloodless,” the Delhi High Court observed. During the case, the bench also questioned the UAPA accused for using the world ‘jumla’ against the prime minister, remarking that there should be a ‘lakshman rekha’ for criticism.Khalid challenged the Delhi High Court’s verdict before the Supreme Court and in May of this year, a bench headed by Justice Bopanna issued notice in his plea. Earlier that month, another bench of the apex court had dismissed Delhi police’s plea against a high court order granting bail to co-accused Asif Iqbal Tanha, Natasha Narwal, and Devangana Kalita. Since the court issued notice, seeking Delhi police's response, the hearing of Khalid's bail plea has been adjourned seven times – once on July 12 after the Delhi police sought more time to file a counter-affidavit, on July 24 after a letter of adjournment was circulated by Khalid's counsel, on August 9 after Justice Mishra recused himself, on August 18, when the matter was listed on a miscellaneous day, on September 5 at the behest of the appellant, on September 12 after the court granted leave, and again on October 12 owing to a paucity of time.Case DetailsUmar Khalid v. Union of India & Anr. | Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 513 of 2023

Umar Khalid Files Petition In Supreme Court Challenging UAPA Provisions

Awstika Das

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