Umar Khalid bail: Delhi HC ask if 'Jumla' word can be used for PM

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked whether it is proper to use the word jumla with respect to the Prime Minister and said that there has to be a line or a Lakshman Rekha while criticising the governmentThe Court asked questions during the hearing of an appeal moved by Umar Khalid challenging the trial court order refusing bail in a larger conspiracy case related to North East Delhi ViolenceThe court during the hearing also asked when was this speech of Umar Khalid uploaded to social media Its a very carefully crafted speech Umar Khalid is an intelligent man but the question arises that is it constitutes a conspiracy to commit the offence asked the courtAppearing for Khalid Senior Advocate Trideep Pais in defence submitted that the common intention was only a peaceful protest not any type of instigation or incitement for any violence The galvanising of troop idea would have come if this speech was even shared on various WhatsApp groups that are alleged to be active But it was not done the lawyer arguedAfter hearing the lengthy arguments in the matter the bench of Justin Siddharth Mridul and Justice Rajnish Bhatnagar on Wednesday said the bench will continue to hear the matter on ThursdayEarlier on Tuesday Delhi Police filed its reply copy in the Delhi High Court opposing Umar Khalids appeal challenging the trial court order refusing bail Reply said that the trial court rightly dismissed the bail application of the Appellant Umar Khalid by a wellreasoned order dealing with each and every speculative argument raised by the AppellantReply copy further submitted that the appeal raises no good grounds for consideration by this Court and thus the same be dismissed in the interest of justiceThe impugned order passed by Trial Court rightly dismissed the bail application of the Appellant by a wellreasoned order dealing with each and every speculative argument raised by the Appellant At the cost of repetition it is humbly submitted that the impugned Order suffers from no illegality which merits interference by this Court stated reply copyLast week Delhi High Court issued notice to Delhi Policestate on an appeal moved by a former student leader of JNU Umar Khalid challenging a trial court order refusing bail in a larger conspiracy case related to North East Delhi violenceUmar Khalid is an accused in northeast Delhi Violence larger conspiracy case He was arrested on 13 September 2020 under various sections of the IPC and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act UAPAThe Division Bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Rajnish Bhatnagar on Friday sought the response of the investigation agency and listed the matter for April 27 2022The Court also heard the relevant portion of the speech of Umar Khalid and asked did Shaheed Bhagat and Mahatma Gandhi ever use this language We have no problem with permitting free speech but what are you saying All this is offensive and obnoxious Dont you think these expressions used are offensive to people Its almost as if we get an impression that only one community fought for Indias independence the court saidAppearing for Umar Khalid Advocate Trideep Pais submitted that the speech was given in Amravati and the Trial Court does not even give a finding that the speech was provocativeThe Trial Court had dismissed the bail plea of Umar Khalid on March 24 2022 The trial Court judge while dismissing the bail plea said that there were reasonable grounds for believing that the accusation against Umar Khalid are prima facie true hence the embargo created by Section 43D of UAPA applies for the grant of bail to the accused and also the embargo contained in Section 437 Code of Criminal Procedure CrPCThe trial court in its order had observed It is also important to highlight that in a conspiracy various continuous acts are committed by different accused persons One act cannot be read in isolation At times if read by itself a particular act on an activity may appear innocuous but if it is a part of a chain of events constituting a conspiracy then all the events must be read togetherThe Court had also observed that the accused was part of such WhatsApp groups created for specific objects and his acts or presence throughout the period beginning from the passing of the CAB Bill in December 2019 till the February 2020 riots has to be read in totality and not piecemeal He is connected with many accused personsThe Court had rejected the contention of defence counsel that the accused was not present in Delhi during the time of the riots In this regard the Court said that in a case of conspiracy it is not necessary that every accused should be present on the spotSpecial Public Prosecutor SPP Amit Prasad had opposed the bail He had argued that the Delhi riots were a large scale and deeprooted conspiracy hatched after the passing of the resolution by the Cabinet Committee to present CAB in both houses of Parliaments on 4 December 2019SPP had also argued that in this entire conspiracy there were various organisations like Pinjra Tod AAZMI SIO SFI etc through individuals which participated There was the centrality of JCC in the ecosystemAmit Prasad had argued Umar Khalid participated in the conspiracy He had also argued that the case under sections is made out against the accused persons There is sufficient material on record to establish that the accusation against the accused Umar Khalid is prima facie true and hence bail application of the accused may be dismissedThis case pertains to large scale violence in Northeast Delhi in which 53 people had lost their lives and hundreds were injuredThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever