NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Monday reserved orders on the bail plea of United Against Hate founder Abdul Khalid Saifi, who is accused in the 2020 Delhi Riots conspiracy case and booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
A Division Bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Rajnish Bhatnagar reserved its order after hearing the arguments of Senior Advocate Rebecca John, who appeared for Saifi and Delhi Police’s counsel Special Public Prosecutor Amit Prasad. During the course of the hearing, SPP said he missed out on a point earlier, arguing that Saifi is responsible for making Khureji Khas a protest site.
In her rebuttal arguments, Saifi’s counsel submitted that the conversation referred to by the police’s counsel is “hearsay evidence” and the material collected against him is nothing but a collection of Youtube videos.
She also argued that Saifi was not granted bail by the trial court, on a technical basis. “There is nothing provocative in the four videos, out of which, two are interviews, one is a Facebook live event and one is a small speech at Jamia,” she submitted.
She also pointed out the physical torture faced by Saifi in jail. After more than an hour-long detailed hearing, the court reserved the matter. On April 8, Saifi’s bail plea was rejected by a lower court, saying the allegations against him were ‘prima facie true.’
He was arrested in February 2020, soon after the Delhi Riots , in which more than 50 people lose their lives and over 700 were injured. Saifi was charged with stringent UAPA and other IPC sections.