The Uttar Pradesh government has extended Kafeel Khan’s detention under the National Security Act 1980 by three more months.
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The order signed by Vinay Kumar, Deputy Secretary, Home (Security) Department, said the decision was being taken on the basis of reports submitted by the NSA advisory board and the District Magistrate of Aligarh. There were “sufficient grounds” for his continued detention, the order said in Hindi.
Dr. Khan is lodged at Mathura jail since February this year for an alleged provocative speech made at Aligarh Muslim University on December 12, 2019, against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and National Register of Citizens.
Initially booked under Section 153A of the IPC, the Gorakhpur-based doctor was arrested from Mumbai on January 29 and brought to Aligarh. Later, Sections 153 B and 505 (2) were added to the FIR. He was granted bail on February 10 by an Aligarh court but on February 13, the U.P. government slapped the NSA on him.
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His lawyer Ali Ghazi said on Saturday that the order was received by Dr Khan’s family on Friday. He emphasised that the order had come after the Supreme Court on August 11 asked the Allahabad High Court, where a habeus corpus petition against his detention was pending, to dispose the matter in 15 days.
A look at the order shows that it was passed on August 4 and despatched on August 10.
The Allahabad High last heard the matter on August 5 and asked the U.P. government to respond within 10 working days. “The matter is now listed for August 19 in the HC,” said Mr. Ghazi.
He said no prima facie case had been made out against his client and the government was misusing its powers.
Meanwhile, in a video clip released by Dr. Khan’s wife Shabista on Saturday, she wondered how a doctor who worked for the poor could be a danger to society. “I have repeatedly said there is no basis for applying the NSA. On Independence Day, I want to ask if we are truly independent,” she said.