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Friday, March 29, 2024

Umar Khalid granted bail

PoliticsUmar Khalid granted bail

New Delhi:  Umar Khalid granted bail, A former JNU student and activist has been granted bail a Delhi court today in a case linked to the anti-CAA riots in parts of Delhi in 2020.  The court said, he “cannot be permitted to remain behind bars on the basis of such a sketchy material against him.”

The court also said, “Umar Khalid “can’t be incarcerated in jail for infinity merely because others who were part of the mob have to be identified and arrested in the matter.”  The court asked him to install the Aarogya Setu on his phone before leaving prison, as presently COVID-19 cases are surging high in India.

Umar Khalid was arrested in October 2020 in connection with the violence in northeast Delhi’s Khajuri Khas area over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests.  The judge said, “I do not find any rationale in the act of the police in involving (Khalid) in this solitary case for the offense of conspiracy.”

According to the court, the prosecution had never said Mr. Khalid was physically present at the scene of the clashes and he had nowhere been caught on visuals on any CCTV footage or viral video. “Neither any independent witness nor any police witness has identified the applicant to be present at the scene of the crime,” said the court, adding that charge-sheeting him on the basis of “such insignificant material” was unwarranted.

In the riots of February 24 last year, over 50 people were killed and 200 injured in the Delhi riots.  The Delhi Police Crime Branch, in its charge sheet, alleged that Mr. Khalid was part of a group that organized a meeting in Shaheen Bagh on January 8, weeks before the riots, to plot the violence. The police alleged that he had “remote-controlled” the riots and had planned the violence during then US President Donald Trump’s visit to Delhi.  None of this, however, has been proved and these are unfounded accusations to date.

The Delhi Police have been accused of inaction watching the riots happen without doing anything.

Also Read: Weekend curfew imposed in Delhi to contain pandemic

Umar Khalid granted bail 

 

 

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