A Delhi court has rejected statutory bail plea of student activist Gulfisha Khatoon, arrested under the anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA,) in a case related to the north-east Delhi riots.
Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat also rejected similar statutory bail applications made separately by Saleem Khan and Tasleem Ahmed, who also have been charged under the stringent UAPA in connection with the riots.
“There is no merit in the present application,” the judge said while dismissing the statutory bail pleas.
Ms. Khatoon, in her plea, stated that she was arrested on April 11, 2020, and has been in judicial custody for over 183 days. She contended that no chargesheet has been filed by the police and, therefore, she has the right to be released on bail upon the expiry of 90 days of custody.
Both Mr. Khan and Mr. Ahmed too stated they were arrested in June and were had been in judicial custody for over 110 days. The trio also contended that the ASJ court does not have jurisdiction over the present case.
The Special Prosecutor submitted that there is no merit in the present application as the ASJ court has been authorised by the Delhi High Court to deal with the present case. He referred to an August notification issued by the Principal Secretary (Law and Justice), Delhi government and one administrative order of August 4 issued by the High Court.
The Special Prosecutor further submitted that the chargesheet in the present case was filed within time on September 16, 2020 and thus, no case for statutory bail is made out.
Taking note of the submission, the court said that the Delhi High Court had authorised the sessions court for trial of cases relating to the communal violence which took place in Delhi earlier this year in which scheduled offences under the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008, were also made out.
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