Delhi violence: Activist Khalid Saifi gets bail in Arms Act case

A Delhi court has granted bail to activist Khalid Saifi, an accused in the northeast Delhi violence who was arrested under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Arms act, after noting that the investigation is complete and all the material is now available with the court and with the accused.

Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat, while granting bail to the Khalid Saifi on Friday, also said, "In view of the factual matrix of the case as adumbrated, which is considering the period of the custody, the fact that the investigation is complete, no chance of tampering with the investigation or influences the witnesses and considering the nature of the offence, I, therefore, hold that the accused is entitled to bail in the present case."

The court granted bail to accused Khalid Saifi subject to furnishing a personal bail bond to the sum of Rs 50,000 with one surety of the like amount.

However, the activist will not be released from jail yet as he is also facing charges under various sections of the IPC and stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in another pending case.

The accused was represented by senior advocate Rebecca John, who argued that the applicant belongs to a respectable family, is a businessman by profession and also works as a social activist.

"The accused is falsely implicated in the instant case and even the chargesheet makes very vague and general allegations against the accused of being part of a group of protesters who attacked the police by firing and throwing stones at them. There are no specific allegations against the accused of using any violent force against the police or anyone else," Rebecca said.

She said that no case under Section 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC is made out as only one MLC has been filed in the chargesheet which shows a simple injury. Even, Section 25 and 27 of the Arms Act are not made out in the absence of allegations of using firearms.

Rebecca John also argued that there is no CCTV footage of the accused committing any violence or instigating people to violence. The accused has deep roots in the society and is in no position to influence the witnesses, she said.

Additional public prosecutor Vikas Kumar, appearing for the State, opposed the bail application of the accused and submitted that Khalid Saifi along with other co-accused persons abetted the crowd not to leave the area and also abetted throwing stones at the police force.

After that, the mob started throwing stones at the police and fired a gunshot towards the police force, Kumar said adding that the protesters also manhandled the police officials and in the said incident, one person was injured and admitted to hospital.

The additional public prosecutor also submitted that Khalid funded the protest and moved it to violence according to a conspiracy and added that he also provided illegal arms to CCL Aaftab and also instigated him to fire upon the police party.

The court, while granting bail to Saifi, noted that since the investigation is complete and all the materials are now available with the court and also with the accused, the veracity or the authenticity of the same shall be tested during the trial.

"The contention that Section 307 of the IPC is not made out as there are only similar injuries to a policeman upon firing, is legally untenable, as by this logic, if a gunshot fired escapes the intruded victim completely, no offence can be made out and such position is not sustainable in law," the court noted in its order.

At least 53 people lost their lives and hundreds of others were injured in the violence which took place in February this year in the northeast area of the national capital between groups supporting and opposing the Citizenship Amendment Act.

( With inputs from ANI )