National Security Act slapped on Dr Kafeel Khan for speech during anti-CAA protest
Dr Khan had spent time in jail after the death of 60 children in a Gorakhpur hospital in September 2017 allegedly due to disruption in oxygen supply over unpaid bills to the vendor.
Paediatrician Dr Kafeel Khan, who was arrested for allegedly delivering an inflammatory speech during a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), has been charged under the stringent National Security Act or NSA.
Ashutosh Dwivedi, Superintendent of Police (Crime), said that Aligarh district magistrate has imposed NSA against Khan.
Under the NSA, the government can keep a person under detention for extended period, if the authorities are satisfied that the person is a threat to national security.
Dr Khan was arrested last month from the Mumbai airport for his speech at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) in December last year on CAA. A case had been registered against him for promoting enmity between different religions for that speech.
“We got to know on Friday morning that NSA has been slapped on Kafeel and now he will not be coming out of jail soon. This is simply unacceptable. He is being targeted at the behest of the state government,” said his brother Adeel Khan.
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Questioning the imposition of NSA, Khan’s brother Adeel cited a 1985 ruling by the Supreme Court to claim that the stringent act can’t be slapped against a person who has already been granted bail.
Dr Khan was granted bail on Monday after furnishing a bail bond of ₹60,000, but he has not been released from Mathura jail where he is presently lodged.
Khan’s family had approached the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Court in Aligarh over the delay in his release despite getting bail.
After his arrest in Mumbai, Khan was brought to Aligarh, from where he was immediately shifted to the district jail in neighbouring Mathura.
Dr Khan hit the headlines after the death of 60 children in a Gorakhpur hospital in September 2017 allegedly due to disruption in oxygen supply over unpaid bills to the vendor. He was suspended and spent more than seven months in jail before being released in April 2018.
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