Delhi HC issues notice in student activist Umar Khalid bail appeal, calls his speech "obnoxious and inciteful"

Senior Advocate Trideep Pais, who was appearing for Khalid, informed that Khalid was not even present in Delhi when the crime he is being accused of happened
File photo of Umar Khalid | (Pic: PTI)
File photo of Umar Khalid | (Pic: PTI)

The Delhi High Court on Friday, April 22, issued a notice in the appeal filed by student activist Umar Khalid. This appeal was filed against a trial court order that denied him bail in the UAPA [Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act] case which was registered against the former student of Jawaharlal Nehru University with regards to February 2020 Delhi riots. 

As reported by Bar and Bench, bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Rajnish Bhatnagar shared their observation that the speech which was given by the student activist at Amravati, which was the basis on which the case was filed against him, was "obnoxious and inciteful".

Senior Advocate Trideep Pais, who was appearing for Khalid, informed that Khalid was not even present in Delhi when the crime he is being accused of happened and when the Senior Advocate was questioned about the charges filed against Khalid, he said they are yet to be framed. 

When asked about what Khalid is accused of, the Senior Advocate stated that it was just one speech. "The police went to TV channels requesting for that speech. Channels tell them that they received it from a politician...special court didn't even give a finding that this speech is provocative," he shared, as quoted in a report by Bar and Bench. 

When the Senior Advocate took the court through the speech, midway through it, the bench questioned if these expressions used don't incite people and freedom of speech extends to such statements and whether Section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race etc) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was attracted.

The Senior Advocate said that he was there on allegations of terror. 

Then, a notice was issued in the appeal against the order of rejecting the bail. Special Public Prosecutor Amit Prasad accepted notice on behalf of the prosecution The matter will be heard next on April 27.  

The Delhi Police had arrested the former leader of the Democratic Students' Union (DSU) Umar Khalid on September 13, 2020, and on November 22 he was chargesheeted under sections of UAPA and the Indian Penal Code. In July 2021, Khalid moved a bail plea and after many hearings, Karkardooma Court reserved its order in March.

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