HC notice to Delhi govt on Khalid Saifi's appeal challenging trial court order refusing bail

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday issued a notice to the Government of NCT Delhi on an appeal of Khalid Saifi, an accused in a larger conspiracy connected with the northeast Delhi violence, challenging the trial court order that refused bail to him.

Saifi was booked under UAPA by the Delhi Police. It was alleged that Saifi was one of the main organizers of the Khureji Protest site which was near Badi Masjid in the Khureji area.

The Division Bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Rajnish Bhatnagar on Tuesday sought the response of the Government of NCT Delhi and listed the matter for July 11, 2022.

Appearing for Khalid Saifi, Senior Advocate Rebecca John submitted that the case is different from other appeals pending before the court in the related case.

Earlier Trial Court's Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat dismissed the bail plea saying, " I am of the opinion that allegation against the accused Khalid Saifi is prima facie true."

Senior Advocate Rebecca John, counsel for the accused had argued that the accused Khalid Saifi has been falsely implicated and the entire case of the prosecution is unsubstantiated without any evidence to link with the communal riots of 2020.

It was also argued that the accused is a businessman by profession and runs a travel agency. He is also a social activist. There is no evidence on record to suggest that the accused gave any provocative speech so as to instigate anyone to commit any act of violence.

The Senior Advocate had argued that the reliance of the prosecution on a WhatsApp group called DPSG would show the peripheral participation of the accused in the said group. Nothing in the group or in the accused's participation in the group is suggestive of any criminal conspiracy.

The Counsel for the accused further argued that as per the prosecution, funding was provided to him between December 2019 and 26 February 2020 for orchestrating riots in Delhi. It was argued that the accused was receiving money from Naseef Abdul Kareem in his NGO bank account not just in 2020 but since 2018. The statement of Abdul Majid, a Trusty of the New Education Welfare Organisation, NGO, is inherently false.

On the other hand, opposing the bail the Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Amit Prasad had argued that there is sufficient material on record to establish that the accusation against the accused Khalid Saifi is prima facie true and hence the bail application may be dismissed.

SPP Amit Prasad had submitted that Khalid Saifi was a member of Whatsapp group DPSG, CAB Team and United Against Hate (UAH) Okhla. Khalid Saifi had also attended a meeting at 6/6 Jangpura, Bhogal, Delhi on 8 December 2019 attended by Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Meeran Haider and others. He had also attended the meeting on 26 December 2019 at Indian Social Institute, Lodhi Colony, Delhi after which DPSG was created on 28 December 2019.

According to the statement of Saturn, on January 8, 2020, a meeting between Umar Khalid, Tahir Hussain, and Khalid Saifi took place at the PFI office, Shaheen Bagh, Delhi.

In northeast Delhi, large-scale violence broke out in February 2020. In this violence, 53 people died and hundreds were injured according to the police.

( With inputs from ANI )