Delhi High Court Notice: Umar Khalid Challenges Dropping of Attempted Murder Charges in 2018 Shooting Case

Former JNU scholar and activist Umar Khalid has moved the Delhi High Court on Wednesday challenging the discharge of two men of the offence of attempt to murder, who allegedly attacked him outside the Constitution Club of India in 2018.Justice Anoop Kumar Mendiratta issued notice on the plea and sought response of the Delhi Police and the two accused persons. Khalid has challenged an order passed by the trial court on December 06 last year, whereby accused persons Naveen Dalal and Darvesh were discharged under Section 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.

During the hearing today, Senior Advocate Trideep Pais appeared for Khalid. He submitted: “This is a fresh revision [petition]. Egregious facts. After preparation, they come to the scene. And the prosecution supports me. They stalk me on Facebook. They find my location. They procure a gun.”After hearing him, the court issued notice on the plea and listed the matter for hearing next on May 21. Umar Khalid, who is the complainant, alleged that when he reached the Constitution Club in August 2018 for attending an event, the two men approached him and one of them attacked him. He alleged that the accused aimed pistol at him which he kept shrugging off by his hand. The man later ran away after Khalid's friends intervened. As per the FIR, while the accused ran away, Khalid heard gunshot being fired from the other direction. The pistol was left on the road.

Umar Khalid is an Indian student activist, a former research scholar at Jawaharlal Nehru University, former leader of Democratic Students' Union (DSU) in JNU. He was allegedly involved in the Jawaharlal Nehru University sedition row and is an accused under the UAPA law. Khalid is also associated with United Against Hate, a campaign founded along with Nadeem Khan in July 2017 in response to the series of lynchings.