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The Delhi High Court on Wednesday heard arguments of Delhi Police opposing the bail pleas of the 2020 Delhi riots' accused Umar Khalid and others. The court has listed the matter for rebuttal arguments on February 20.
During the argument, Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Amit Prasad read over the role of accused Athar Khan. At the outset, SPP Amit Prasad referred to the statement for protected witnesses and cctv footage of meeting attended by the accused Athar, Devangana, Gulfisha and others. Special Public Prosecutor Amit placed on record the role of the accused. He requested the court to deal with the role of Athar first. It was submitted by Delhi Police that in this meeting, there was discussion that shooters from Uttar Pradesh had been called. SPP also referred to a late night meeting and read out chats alleging that during the meeting, there were discussions on riots and roadblocks. SPP Prasad further submitted that there is evidence to show that Athar and Gulfisha received money for the protest. Athar and Shadab are responsible for Chandbagh protest site. SPP also submitted that Indian Social Institute was booked for meeting. Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Chetan Sharma made his submissions on legal aspects involved in grant of bail. He referred to some judgments during his arguments to emphasise that even though speedy trial is important, it cannot be a free pass. The larger interest of the society must prevail. The Counsel for the accused said that the court should take note of the delay caused by it instead of giving piecemeal orders. ASG further argued that delay in trial is not the only factor for grant of bail. He submitted that the delay has to be balanced out with the complexity of the issue. ASG Sharma submitted that when facts show involvement of transnational terror activities, then bail should not be granted. The courts should consider all the FIRs of the case, he added. This case is related to the alleged larger conspiracy of Delhi riots of 2020. It is alleged that 53 people died and hundreds were injured during these riots. Delhi Police have booked Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Tahir Hussain, Shifa Ur Rahman, Abdul Khalid Saifi, Athar Khan, Saleem Khan, Saleem Malik, Natasha Narwal, Devangana Kalita, Safoora Zargar, Gulfisha Fatima, Ishrat Jahan and others under the anti-terror law UAPA. (ANI)
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