The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed an appeal by the Uttar Pradesh government against an Allahabad High Court decision quashing the detention of Dr. Kafeel Khan under the National Security Act (NSA).
A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde, however, said any remarks made by the High Court on the facts of the case in its September order would not interfere in the ongoing prosecution of the case.
“Case will be decided on its own merits”, the Bench observed.
Senior advocate Indira Jaising, for Dr. Khan’s mother Nuzhat Perween, argued against the State’s appeal. “The man has been out for three months now and there has been no problems”, Ms. Jaising submitted.
Chief Justice Bobde told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that the court would not intervene against the quashing of detention order and told the State “to get on with whatever prosecution is pending”.
Speech at AMU
Dr. Khan had been in custody since January 29 for his remarks during a speech at an anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) event in Aligarh Muslim University in December last year.
The High Court had, in its order, said that his speech did not “disclose any effort to promote hatred or violence” and termed the three extensions of his detention illegal.
The State, however, claimed that Dr. Khan ignored orders regarding the imposition of Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code. It said his remarks were inflammatory.
Dr. Khan, a paediatrician, first shot into focus when 60 children died in a government hospital at Gorakhpur in 2017. He was initially hailed a hero for arranging emergency oxygen cylinders for the sick children, but then later arrested. A court finally absolved him of medical negligence on his part.
