NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court ruled on Monday that the statement given by former JNU student Umar Khalid, who was detained in a UAPA case relating to the alleged plot behind the riots in February 2020, in Amravati, Maharashtra, was in poor taste but did not constitute a terrorist act.
The comment was made by the high court while hearing Khalid’s bail petition, which challenges a lower court’s March 24 judgement denying his bail application in the case.
“Even though the speech is in poor taste, it is not a terrorist act. We comprehend this thoroughly. If the prosecution’s case hinges on how insulting the speech was, that alone would not constitute a crime. We shall provide the prosecution with the chance, “A bench of Siddharth Mridul and Rajnish Bhatnagar Justices said.
The court additionally stated that the speech was “offensive” and “distasteful” and that it “may amount to slander, but not to terrorism.” The court was considering the arguments presented by Umar Khalid’s attorney, who referred to his statement on February 17, 2020, in Amravati. In addition, he read the statements of other protected witnesses in the case.
The court scheduled a hearing for July 4 to hear Umar Khalid’s attorney’s closing statements. It had previously stated that the high court is not compelled to examine the validity of witness testimony at the stage of evaluating the bail application and that it cannot conduct a mini-trial at this point. Umar Khalid’s attorney has previously contended that he had spent the last two years in jail based on an uncorroborated hearsay statement from a protected witness.
The defence attorney had argued that the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act were against an “unjust law” and were in no way an act against the Sovereign, and that several of the acts alleged or incidents cited against him by the police did not even qualify as ‘terror’ and that the protestors were not perpetuating violence as envisioned by the UAPA.
The high court had already questioned Umar Khalid for using offensive language against Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his February 21, 2020 address in Amravati. Umar Khalid has been in detention since his arrest on September 13, 2020.
Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, and numerous others have been charged under the anti-terror statute Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and parts of the Indian Penal Code for allegedly being the “masterminds” of the riots in February 2020, which left 53 people dead and over 700 wounded.
During protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens, violence broke out. The Delhi Police rejected the bail application, arguing that Khalid’s statements cannot be considered as his defence at this time, and the trial court denied his release on the basis of a well-reasoned and lawful decision.
In addition to Umar Khalid, activist Khalid Saifi, JNU students Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita, Jamia Coordination Committee members Safoora Zargar and former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain, as well as a number of others, have been charged for violating the case’s strict statute.
