SC rejects police plea to cancel bail granted to man accused in Delhi violence case
Nov 23, 2020
New Delhi [India], November 23 : The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a petition filed by the Delhi Police seeking cancellation of bail granted to Faizan Khan, a SIM card salesman, arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in connection with the northeast Delhi violence.
A bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan declined the plea of Delhi Police. Faizan Khan is facing charges for supplying mobile phone SIMs to delinquent students without mandatory verification of identity to enable them to participate in conspiracy without being detected.
The Delhi High Court had, on October 23, granting bail to Khan and noted the police has failed to give any evidence that he was directly involved in the protest against Citizenship Amendment Act.
The High Court had pointed out that there was no allegation against Khan that he engaged in any form of terror funding or such other ancillary activity. "For invoking the UAPA against the Khan, it is the duty of the investigating agency to demonstrate that he had "actual knowledge" that the said SIM card would be used for organising the protests," the High Court had observed.
According to the police, Faizan Khan and one of the chargesheeted accused and acted in connivance with Jamia Millia Islamia University student Asif Iqbal Tanha and executed the "preparatory work" for the commission of the unlawful and terrorist acts.
The specific allegation against Faizan was that he activated the SIM card while working as the authorised Airtel representative at a store called Golden Communication.
During his interrogation, Khan had disclosed that Asif Iqbal Tanha visited the shop and had demanded the SIM card on a fake ID. Khan activated the SIM Card using ID of one Abdul Jabbar with the live photograph of one Gaurav Kumar Diwakar, working as a salesman in the shop.
The Delhi Police had claimed that this SIM card was later used by another accused, Safoora Zargar, in name of "Jamia Coordination Committee" for managing various sites and mobilising Muslim people, which led to 'chakka jaam' and riots.
At least 53 people were killed and several others were injured in the violence that took place in northeast Delhi between February 24 and 26 after the conflicts between groups supporting and opposing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) turned violent.
