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Delhi HC directs Umar Khalid's bail plea in 2020 riots case to another bench
The former JNU student, along with several other students were booked under UAPA for allegedly being the ‘masterminds’ of the February 2020 communal riots in Delhi.
The Delhi High Court on Thursday directed the bail plea by former Jawaharlal Nehru University student leader Khalid to be sent to another bench for hearing on May 20 in connection with the case related to the 2020 Delhi riots.
The high court bench headed by Justice Mukta Gupta ordered the matter be listed before the bench of justices Siddharth Mridul and Rajnish Bhatnagar as they had part-heard the case before.
Earlier on May 6, the bench headed by Justice Mridul had listed Khalid's bail plea for hearing on May 19. The bench had also allowed him and the prosecution to place all relevant documents on record for an effective judgement.
Also read: Umar Khalid’s speech ‘obnoxious, inciteful, unacceptable’, says Delhi HC
The former JNU student, along with several other students were booked under the anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for allegedly being the ‘masterminds’ of the February 2020 communal riots in the national capital. The riots had led to 53 deaths and over 700 people were injured.
Besides Umar Khalid, activist Khalid Saifi, JNU students Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita, Jamia coordination committee members Safoora Zargar and former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain have been booked under the law.
In his bail plea before the high court, Khalid argued that his speech “did not call for violence”.
Also read: HC seeks response of police on plea by Delhi riots accused
The former JNU student has also argued that his speech was “not contemporaneously uploaded on YouTube, was not widely circulated”, and that the allegation of commission of the offence or any reaction in Delhi on account of the speech was “unfounded, unlikely and more than remote”.
