NEW DELHI: One of the accused in the 2020 Delhi riots case, Shadab Ahmed, told the Supreme Court on Thursday that coordinating and attending protest gatherings did not attribute instigation, planning or direction to commit violence.
"When does protest becomes conspiracy? The mere presence at a protest is not criminality,” senior lawyer Siddharth Luthra, appearing for accused Ahmed, told the two-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice N V Anjaria.
Luthra further questioned the move of the prosecution as to how Ahmed has now been “folded into the larger conspiracy” despite the evidence that he only helped organise protests, and did not instigate violence.
He submitted that Ahmed was first arrested in 2020 in connection with the death of Constable Ratan Lal and was later added to the larger conspiracy case in May that year while still in custody.
In September that year, the Delhi High Court granted him bail in both the Ratan Lal case and in another case relating to the burning of a Maruti showroom. “Despite bail in both, he remains in jail four years later because of this larger conspiracy case," he contended.
He further pleaded that Ahmed was entitled to default bail since the prosecution had neither obtained a sanction under Section 196 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) nor filed a complaint under Section 195, both of which restrict cognisance of certain offences.
Luthra further argued that he had not caused any delay in the trial proceedings and refuted the prosecution’s allegation that he was responsible for prolonging the case.
Ahmed, along with co-accused Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, and Mohd Saleem Khan, has sought bail from the Supreme Court after the Delhi High Court dismissed their applications on September 2.
The bench heard arguments from all six accused on Thursday, with the Delhi Police expected to begin its submissions on November 11.
The riots took place in February 2020, following clashes over the then-proposed Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). As per the Delhi Police, the riots caused the death of 53 persons and injured hundreds.
According to the prosecution, the violence had erupted following protests against the CAA and NRC. The protests had left 53 people dead and over 700 injured.