NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday issued a notice to city police seeking response on a plea by Khalid Saifi, founder of the organisation ‘United Against Hate’. Saifi was arrested in a case related to the alleged conspiracy behind the Delhi riots in February 2020.
A bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Rajnish Bhatnagar issued notice to the police on the petition challenging the trial court’s April 8 order by which Saifi’s bail plea was dismissed. Special Public Prosecutor Amit Prasad accepted the notice on behalf of the Delhi government.
The high court listed the matter for further hearing on July 11. According to Saifi’s counsel and senior advocate Rebecca John, he was in custody for over 800 days and his case was different from the other co-accused. The trial court dismissed the bail plea, saying the allegations against Saifi were ‘prima facie’ true.
The activist was charged under various sections of the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, along with the sections of the Arms Act, Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, and the Indian Penal Code.
Saifi is accused of being the “mastermind” of the February 2020 northeast Delhi riots, which had left 53 people dead and over 700 injured. It was also argued that the accused is a businessman by profession and runs a travel agency. He is also a social activist. There is no evidence on record to suggest that the accused gave any provocative speech so as to instigate anyone to commit any act of violence. The Senior Advocate argued that the reliance of the prosecution on a WhatsApp group called DPSG would show the peripheral
participation of the accused in the said group.
Charges against the activist
The activist was charged under various sections of the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, along with the sections of the Arms Act, Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, and the IPC.