[Delhi Riots] Umar Khalid bail plea to be heard daily by Delhi High Court from May 23

A Division Bench of the Delhi High Court headed by Justice Siddharth Mridul, which has been hearing the bail application filed by Umar Khalid in the Delhi Riots case, will continue hearing the plea as a special bench from May 23, on a daily basis. .The matter was directed to be listed before the Bench which also comprises Justice Rajnish Bhatnagar after it was noted yesterday that this Bench had heard the matter substantially. As per the latest roster, Justice Mridul and Justice Bhatnagar currently sit on separate benches. However, as this bail plea was partly heard by them, they sat together specially on Friday, as is the practice in Delhi High Court..After hearing the matter at length, the judges asked Senior Advocate Trideep Pais, who is representing Khalid, about how much time he needs to finish the arguments, Pais said that he will need at least two more days. Special Public Prosecutor Amit Prasad informed that he required four to five hours to complete his arguments.Accordingly, the Bench decided that they will sit post lunch every day from May 23 and hear the bail plea."We will pause here today. This is a special bench. We propose that from Monday onwards we will hear it in post-lunch session. We want to finish this before the vacation," the Bench said..At the hearing today, Pais produced a copy of the transcript of the speech and the documents to explain the meaning of the words. However, Justice Bhatnagar demanded that Khalid's Amravati speech should be played again in the court.After hearing the speech, the judge expressed his displeasure over the use of the phrase "Bharat me Modi Nanga si" by Khalid."Donald trump ko ye na pata lag jaae.. What is he saying after this? He is making the statement against Prime Minister of India. Some other words could have been used against the PM of India. He could have stopped at Bharat me sab changa si. There could have been a purnviram (full stop) at changa si."Pais responded that he could have and a lot can be said in the hindsight but even then, it is sarcastic and satirical response to the phrase "Bharat me sab changa si" and it cannot be construed as an incitement to violence.Justice Bhatnagar asked Pais if Mahatma Gandhi ever used such language against his opponents?"Did Mahatma Gandhi use words like these in his speeches? He is saying he follows Mahatma Gandhi."Pais responded that there have been instances when a finance minister was called impotent and the incident was widely reported in the media.The judge then questioned if this was the part of democracy in the country and that these were the questions that came in their mind after hearing the speech..Khalid had moved the High Court after he was denied bail by the Karkardooma Court on March 24. Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat found he was part of the WhatsApp groups created for specific objects. His acts or presence throughout the period beginning from the passing of the Citizenship Amendment Bill in December 2019 till the riots of February 2020 riots had to read in a piecemeal manner, the Court had held..While hearing Khalid's case previously, Justice Mridul had said that the speech he delivered at Amravati was "obnoxious" and that while criticism of the government is allowed, a "Lakshman Rekha" should not have been crossed.The Bench had also questioned what Umar Khalid meant when he used the words "inquilab" and "krantikari" in the speech that he delivered at Amravati.

[Delhi Riots] Umar Khalid bail plea to be heard daily by Delhi High Court from May 23

Prashant Jha

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