North East Delhi riots: HC asks police to show material against Khalid Saifi, raps for lengthy arguements
Feb 06, 2024
New Delhi [India], February 6 : The High Court on Tuesday asked the police to show material against Khalid Saifi, accused in the Delhi riots "larger conspiracy" case, to show that he was involved in the violence.
A division bench comprising justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Manoj Jain also rapped Delhi police for lengthy arguments against his bail application.
The bench asked the Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Amit Prasad to show evidence or material against the accused to prove it was a case of violence. To do a protest is not wrong, it is a right, the HC stressed.
"Show material against the accused, and point out his role. We will consider it. If you have no case, we can grant bail. We don't want a story. Give material against him. You have read seven thousand pages. Who will read this? Show material against him," the bench said.
The HC asked the SPP to confine his argument to the role of the accused and file a compilation defining his role.
During arguments, SPP Prasad referred to various WhatsApp group chats and the charge sheet to show the role of the accused. At this point, the bench said that confine your arguements to the role of the accused. At the stage of bail, unlimited time can not be granted. It is not going to read the charge sheet at this stage as it would result in commencing a trial and that can't be permitted.
SPP Prasad also referred to the WhatsApp chats of the Delhi Protests Support Group (DPSG) to show the role of accused Khalid Saifi.
The matter has been listed for hearing next week. On the next date, the bail plea of Gulfisha Fatima will also be heard.
Khalid Saifi's bail plea was dismissed by the trial court in April 2022. He has challenged the order before the High Court.
The High Court is hearing the appeals related to the denial of bail to the accused booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Delhi police has also booked Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain and others in the case.
The violence in northeast Delhi had erupted during the protests against CAA and NRC and had left 53 people dead and over 700 injured in February 2020.
