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CAA protests were timed with Trump’s visit for global attention: Delhi Police to Supreme Court
ASG SV Raju made the statement before the Supreme Court as he opposed the bail pleas of activists Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and others in the 2020 riots case.
The Delhi Police on Thursday said that the anti-CAA protests in 2020 were timed to coincide with US President Donald Trump's visit to India, with the aim of garnering international media coverage.
Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the Delhi Police, made the statement before the Supreme Court as he opposed the bail pleas of activists Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and others in the February 2020 riots case.
"The ultimate intention is regime change. CAA protests were a red-herring, the real purpose was regime change, create economic deprivation and create chaos across the country. The riots were deliberately made to coincide with the visit of US President Donald Trump. These so-called intellectuals are more dangerous than the ground-level terrorists," Raju said, according to PTI.
Also Read | No bail grounds for 2020 riots accused, Delhi Police argue before SC
The ASG told a bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and NV Anjaria that the delay in trial was attributable to the accused, and they cannot take advantage of it.
Raju also presented videos in the top court showing Sharjeel Imam delivering "inflammatory speeches" against the Citizenship Amendment Act. According to PTI, the videos were of the Imam giving speeches at Chakhand, Jamia, Aligarh, and Asansol in 2019 and 2020 before the February 2020 riots in Delhi.
Pointing out that Imam is an engineering graduate, Raju told the court: "Nowadays there is a trend that doctors, engineers are not doing their professions but engaging in anti-national activities."
This submission came days after the Red Fort suicide attack that killed 12 people – a case in which several suspects are doctors.
Earlier, during a hearing on Tuesday, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and SV Raju argued that the riots were “pre-planned’. They also claimed that the accused delayed the trial and hence, the five-year jail term should not be the basis of bail.
On October 30, the Delhi police had also argued that Khalid and his co-accused had used “sponsored” anti-CAA protests as a disguise and a “radicalising catalyst” to trigger nationwide communal riots with the ultimate aim of regime change.
