Anti-CAA speech at AMU: Allahabad High Court seeks response from Uttar Pradesh Govt in plea by Dr. Kafeel Khan to quash criminal case against him

The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday sought the response of the Uttar Pradesh government on a plea moved by Dr. Kafeel Khan to quash the criminal proceedings initiated against him in connection with a speech delivered by him at the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) during the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in December 2019..A Single-Judge bench of Justice J Munir, issued notice to the State government on an application moved by Dr. Khan and listed the matter for further hearing on April 6..Senior Advocates Nazrul Islam and Dileep Kumar and advocate Rajrshi Gupta represented Khan while the government advocate appeared for the State..Dr. Khan was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police for a speech delivered by him at the AMU on December 12, 2019. He was charged with offences under Sections 153A (promoting enmity between religions), 153B (imputations prejudicial to national integration) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code..Based on the same, he was also detained under the National Security Act though the said detention was later quashed by the Allahabad High Court on September 1, 2020 and confirmed by the Supreme Court on December 17, 2020. This was after his mother, Nuzhat Perween filed a Habeas Corpus petition challenging the detention under NSA..The judgment of the High Court in that Habeas Corpus plea, in fact, contained some pertinent observations in favour of Khan. The High Court said that speech by Khan was not a call for promotion of hatred or violence; instead it deprecated violence and called for national integrity and unity. .“The speech nowhere threatens peace and tranquility of the city of Aligarh. The address gives a call for national integrity and unity among the citizens. The speech also deprecates any kind of violence. It appears that the District Magistrate had selective reading and selective mention for few phrases from the speech ignoring its true intent,” a Division Bench comprising of Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Saumitra Dayal Singh had held. .Dr Kafeel Khan's speech calls for national integrity and unity, does not instigate violence or hatred: Allahabad HC [Read Judgment].When the appeal filed against the same by the State government before the Supreme Court came up for hearing, a three-judge bench of Chief Justice SA Bobde and Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian held that there was no reason to interfere with the September 1 order which had quashed the detention of Dr. Khan under NSA. "We see no reason to interfere" the top court had said.