Delhi riots UAPA case: Order reserved on Umar's bail plea

New Delhi: After hearing the bail plea of former JNU student leader Umar Khalid for months-on-end in the UAPA case related to the February 2020 north-east Delhi riots, Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat on Thursday reserved its order in the matter, with the pronouncement of the order expected to come on March 14.

Significantly, before reserving the order, the court on Thursday heard submissions from Special Public Prosecutor Amit Prasad, who further accused Umar based on the contents of the latest supplementary chargesheet filed by the Special Cell on

Wednesday.

Prasad took the court through the events that led to a speech by Umar in Amaravati in early February of 2020, arguing that not just the speech there but the conduct of the accused in the run-up to it purportedly made their case of conspiracy stronger.

The prosecution argued that when Umar had filed an online application for permission to speak in Amaravati, it was rejected by the Home Department of the Maharashtra government. But later, an application for the event was filed by the Welfare Party of India, of which Umar's father is a member.

Prasad said the second application did not contain Umar's name and that this was allegedly a ploy to circumvent the authorities and have Umar deliver the speech.

The prosecution went on to argue that the materials involved in rioting like acid, chilli powder, etc. had to be gathered and this indicated planning from before. Referring to Advocate Mohammed Pracha's arguments in another matter, Prasad said, "I have not seen Kapil Mishra breaking CCTV cameras of Chand Bagh. But Saleem Khan was definitely there."

However, rebutting these arguments, Umar's lawyer, Senior Advocate Trideep Pais, tore into the contents of the most recent supplementary chargesheet, saying it was "not worth the paper it is written on".

Saying that the SPP was "making a mockery out of a UAPA prosecution", Pais went on to submit that the FIR in relation to the Amaravati speech did not even mention Umar and that somehow the prosecution was trying to argue that that FIR had purportedly made his actions in Delhi a terrorist activity.

In addition, when Prasad tried to argue that messages indicating that the accused wanted to make WhatsApp calls somehow implicated them, Pais said, "I work in a basement, I make WhatsApp calls because network doesn't reach. But I am a terrorist. The third chargesheet is not worth the paper it's

written on."