Arguing for delay in trial and bail on parity grounds along with other co-accused in the northeast Delhi riots grand conspiracy case, student activist Umar Khalid submitted in the Delhi High Court that he has “done” or passed. Half of the sentence for the 34 offenses charged against him.
At the same time, his co-accused Meeran Haider submitted before a division bench of Justices Naveen Chawla and Shalindar Kaur that the prosecution had “conflated the protest into a riot and then the organization (organization) into the protest”.
Khalid and Haider have been in jail for more than four years.
Senior advocate Trideep Pais, appearing for Khalid, argued that the charges were “based on hearsay” and that he had been accused, making a case for equality by granting bail to accused Natasha Narwal and Devangana (Kalita) in the grand conspiracy case as well. “No recovery, no violence part” is not.
“Natasha and Devangana attend the alleged “secret meeting” and are free on bail,” Paes submitted as he disputed the nature of the so-called “secret meeting”. He said that none of the eyewitnesses kept the meeting a secret and the photos of the meeting were also shared on Facebook.
“There are no allegations of violence as a direct result of the meeting. I am not even part of any FIR in that area,” Pais said, adding that the only clear act in Khalid’s favor was the speech he gave in Amravati, Maharashtra. “I was thousands of miles away from Delhi… This is a speech invoking the Gandhian principle of non-violence, we have this law (CAA/ (NRC) should be protested against,” he submitted.
Questioning the justification of investigating and prosecuting the accused in the case of a big conspiracy related to the riots, Pais said, ‘What is the meaning of indicting us and not them (others who participated in such meetings) even though there were many present in the meeting?
Haider through his advocate Shri Singh pointed out, “They (prosecution) link protest to riot and then they link organization (organisation) to protest. So, if I am part of the organizing committee of these WhatsApp groups (it is organized as protest) … (CrPC Section) 164 In the statement, the opposition is struck by (the word) “riot”. This is the quality of the evidence which cuts through everything This is my physical nature.”
“They said I was part of the speech… (What I said) is that the law is unconstitutional, there are historical facts and figures, etc… According to them (the prosecution), there were two secret meetings… I am not. Attend any of these meetings,” Singh added.
Addressing allegations that Hyder’s de-escalation attempt on February 24, 2020 was “just a smoke screen”, Singh pointed out that the only evidence to support the claim was that the accused “received three phone calls during this de-escalation”.
“There is no recovery – chilli powder, hockey sticks etc – which they allegedly found from others… I am not present at any of the riot sites between February 20-27, 2020… None of the witnesses mention my name,” Singh said. emphasized. .
The court has now posted this batch of bailees for further consideration on December 12 when the prosecution is expected to argue their case. Two other bail petitions by Sharjeel Imam and Shadab Ahmed, who also want to argue the merits of the case, were expected to be heard on December 12 due to the delay in the case. But now it is expected to be postponed.