Police say Delhi riots conspiracy planned through ‘inimical forces of neighbouring countries’, oppose bail of Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam
Tells High Court ‘conspiracy planned to be executed through inimical forces of neighbouring countries’.
3 min read
Submitting that the offences which the accused are facing entail punishment up to life imprisonment, Sharma contended that the “question of parity will not come”.Opposing the bail pleas of student activists Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and six others accused in the 2020 Northeast Delhi riots larger conspiracy case, the prosecution Tuesday told the Delhi High Court that the “conspiracy was planned to be executed through inimical forces of neighbouring countries”.
Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Chetan Sharma told the HC, “It is a case of clinical, pathological conspiracy planned and executed with diabolical and ruthless intentions.”
While concluding his arguments opposing the bail pleas of eight, Sharma added, “(the) conspiracy was planned to (be) executed through inimical forces of neighbouring countries.”
The accused are broadly seeking bail on grounds of delay in trial and parity with other accused in the case — student activists Asif Iqbal Tanha, Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal — who were granted bail earlier.
Submitting that the offences which the accused are facing entail punishment up to life imprisonment, Sharma contended that the “question of parity will not come”. He also said the Supreme Court clarified that the grant of bail to them (Tanha, Narwal and Kalita) shall not be treated as a precedent.
The three were granted bail by a division bench of the Delhi HC in June 2021, which was then challenged by the Delhi Police before the SC. While dismissing the state’s appeal, the SC had recorded that it has not gone into the legal position with respect to the matter one way or another, adding that the HC’s judgment “shall not be treated as a precedent”.
Addressing the accused persons’ arguments on grounds of delay in trial, the prosecution said that the ground “may not be true across the board (for all eight accused seeking bail before the HC) since some appeals are coming for the first time.
Khalid and Imam, along with others, are facing allegations of a pre-planned conspiracy to allegedly cause riots in Northeast Delhi between February 23 and 25, 2020. The accused have been booked for offences under the Indian Penal Code, Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, Arms Act, and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, and have been in jail for over four years now.
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