HC seeks response of police on plea by Delhi riots accused

New Delhi: The Delhi high court on Wednesday sought response of the city police on the bail plea by student activist Gulfisha Fatima in a case concerning the larger conspiracy behind the riots here in February 2020

New Delhi: The Delhi high court on Wednesday sought response of the city police on the bail plea by student activist Gulfisha Fatima in a case concerning the larger conspiracy behind the riots here in February 2020.

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A bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Rajnish Bhatnagar issued notice to the police on the petition challenging a trial court’s order dismissing the bail plea of Fatima in the case.

The bench listed the matter for further hearing on July 14, and said “we have to go through the allegations levelled against you (fatima)”.

The counsel appearing for the activist sought bail, saying she has been in custody for the last over two years. Fatima has challenged the trial court’s March 16 order by which her bail plea was dismissed. Besides her, the trial court had also rejected the bail application on another co-accused Tasleem Ahmed.

Fatima and Ahmed, along with several others, have been booked under the anti-terror law — Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) — in the case for allegedly being the “masterminds” of the February 2020 riots, which had left 53 people dead and over 700 injured.

The violence had erupted during the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), 2019, and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Activist Khalid Saifi, Umar Khalid, JNU students Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita, Jamia Coordination Committee members Safoora Zargar, former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain and several others have also been booked under the stringent law in the case.

Communal riots had broken out in north east Delhi in February 2020 leaving 53 dead and over 700 injured.