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The Delhi High Court on Thursday issued notice to Delhi Police on the pleas moved by accused Gulfisha Fatima and Abdul Khalid Saifi.
They have moved applications seeking parity with other accused Devangna Kalita, Natasha Narwal and Asif Iqbal Tanha in the larger conspiracy of the Delhi riots case. The Supreme Court of India has recently upheld the order of bail granted by the High Court. The Supreme Court has said, "If any co-accused raises the plea of parity then it is for the Court to consider the same." A special Bench comprising justices Sidharth Mridul and Rajnish Bhatnagar issued notice to Delhi police and sought a response to the plea within two weeks. The Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Amit Prasad accepted the notice. The matter has been listed on July 7 for further hearing. The counsel for Shadab Ahmed and Athar Khan also submitted that they want to argue on the point of parity. Accused Gulfisha Fatima has approached the court through advocate Sarim Naved. Abdul Khalid Saifi has moved the application through his counsel. The court had reserved an order on his bail in January 2023. Senior advocate Rebecca John on behalf of Abdul Khalid Saifi argued. It is submitted that a perusal of the chargesheet of the case would show that the allegations against the appellant are similar in nature to those against the co-accused namely Devangna Kalita, Natasha Narwal and Asif Iqbal Tanha. It is also submitted that the allegations against the said co-accused in the chargesheet are that they participated in a 'larger conspiracy' to cause Delhi North-East riots which led to the filing of the present FIR. It is submitted that much like in the case of the present appellant, these allegations arise in cases where the aforesaid co-accused who were alleged to have participated in the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA) passed by the Parliament and exercise undertaken by the Central Government to create a database of citizen called the National Register of Citizens (NRC). The gravamen of the charges against the said co-accused is that as part of the protests, the said co-accused along with other co-conspirators instigated the local population in certain Muslim-dominated areas of Delhi, which led to violence and rioting, are similar in nature to that of allegations against the present appellant. Another application has been moved on behalf of Gulfisha Fatima. The order on her bail plea was reserved by the court in the month of February 2023. She also raised the point of parity with Devangna Kalita, Natash Narwal and Asif Iqbal Tanha. The matter has been listed on July 7. The court will first hear the arguments on the bail plea by the defence counsels. Thereafter other applications on parity would be by the court. (ANI)
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