Supreme Court Reserves Verdict In Bail Pleas of Delhi Riots ‘Conspiracy’ Accused
The Wire Staff
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New Delhi: With the Delhi police concluding its arguments against releasing the activists it accuses of hatching the ‘larger conspiracy’ behind the deadly 2020 Delhi riots, the Supreme Court on Wednesday (December 10) reserved its verdict in the accused's bail pleas.
The bench comprising Justices Aravind Kumar and N.V. Anjaria said it intended to decide the matter before the top court goes on winter recess on December 19, The Hindu reported.
During Wednesday's hearing, additional solicitor general S.V. Raju argued that the accused persons' call for chakka jams or road blockades were not ordinary political sloganeering but intended to disrupt essential services. The calls threatened the country's economic security and constituted a terrorist act under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, he argued according to The Hindu.
When asked by Justice Kumar how these calls were linked to the riots – and thereby attracting the Act's ‘terrorist activity’ provision – Raju alleged that the accused's exhortations were “followed by action” that ultimately resulted in the deadly violence, the newspaper reported.
Raju also reportedly argued that accused Umar Khalid intentionally left Delhi prior to the violence in order to misdirect blame for the riots in which over 50 people were killed.
It is the Delhi police's case that the accused, who remain in jail for over five years after they were arrested in the matter, conspired to cause the communal violence in the capital city in February 2020 but also wanted to instigate people “to an extent of armed rebellion” with the intention of causing “regime change”.
They chose the Citizenship (Amendment) Act of 2019 that they had protested against at the time in order to ‘camouflage’ their intentions “in the name of ‘peaceful protest’,” the police alleges.
Questions continue to hover over the Delhi police's partisan role in investigating the violence, while the accused's prolonged incarceration has prompted rights defenders worldwide to decry it as a travesty of justice.
Earlier this month the accused made their rejoinder arguments before the bench. They made a detailed case for bail in October, following which the Delhi police submitted its arguments last month.
The Delhi high court had rejected their bail pleas on September 2.
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