'Sometimes intellectuals more dangerous': SC told in Delhi riots case
What's the story
The Delhi Police has opposed the bail pleas of six accused in the larger conspiracy case related to the 2020 Delhi riots. The police called them "anti-nationals" who attempted a regime change through violence. Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju, appearing for the Delhi Police, alleged that the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) were a cover for a larger conspiracy to change the regime. He said these protests led to 53 deaths, including an Intelligence Bureau officer.
Accusations detailed
ASG accuses accused of regime change
"A narrative is built that he is an intellectual he is being hounded etc. That's not the case. Intellectuals are many times more dangerous. See between the lines. The real purpose of the protest was regime change, strangulated the economic welfare, on a pan India basis." "Something on the scheme of what was happening in Bangladesh and Nepal was being done; it didn't work. There is a larger conspiracy which engulfs everything," Raju said.
Raju
Protest coincided with Trump's visit
Raju further stated that the protest was timed to coincide with the visit of US President Donald Trump so that it would get attention from international media. Raju also played in court certain video clips of the provocative speeches allegedly made by Sharjeel Imam. The clips allegedly showed Imam making statements such as holding chakka-jams, uniting Muslims to cut off the 'chicken neck' area connecting India to Assam, disrupting supplies of essentials to Delhi, and paralyzing the government, among others.
Evidence presented
Delhi Police presents evidence against accused
The Delhi Police has submitted a 389-page affidavit opposing the bail pleas of Umar Khalid, Imam, Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shadab Ahmed and Mohd Saleem Khan. The affidavit includes "irrefutable documentary as well as technical evidence" of a conspiracy for a "regime-change operation." The accused have argued they were only exercising their right to peaceful protests against the CAA. Khalid's counsel said he wasn't even in Delhi during the riots, while Imam's lawyer said he only called for peaceful blockades.
Conspiracy coordination
Most in custody since 2020
The petitioners are facing charges under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for allegedly plotting the "larger conspiracy" behind the communal riots that erupted in northeast Delhi against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act in the last week of February 2020. Most of the accused have been in custody since 2020. Safoora Zargar was granted bail in June 2020 on humanitarian grounds, as she was pregnant.