Nothing except bald statements of witness: Delhi High Court grants bail to riots accused in UAPA case

Stating that the Delhi Police's case was nothing except for bald statements of witnesses, the Delhi High Court today granted bail to a riots accused who supplied a SIM card which was used by Jamia Coordination Committee. (Faizan Khan vs State)

The order was passed by a Single Judge Bench of Justice Suresh Kait.

The bail applicant, Faizan Khan was arrested by Delhi Police in the case pertaining to the conspiracy that led to the riots in the capital’s North-East area in February 2020.

The case alleges the commission of offences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

As per Delhi Police, Faizan Khan and one of the charge-sheeted accused, Asif Iqbal Tanha acted in connivance with each other and executed the "preparatory work" for the commission of the unlawful and terrorist acts.

The specific allegation against Faizan was that he activated the SIM card while working as the authorized Airtel representative at a store called Golden Communication.

This SIM card was later used by another accused, Safoora Zargar, in name of "Jamia Coordination Committee" for managing various sites and mobilising Muslim people, which led to chakka jaam and riots, Delhi Police has claimed.

As per witness statement, Faizan Khan stated that it was essential to issue the SIM Card on a fake ID and was to be delivered to Asif Iqbal Tanha who was fighting for his community.

Delhi Police opposed bail on the ground that investigation against six accused including Faizan Khan was still pending.

It was further asserted that in view of the evidence read with the presumption of commissioning of offence as provided under section 14-E of UAPA, there was no ground to grant bail to Faizan Khan.

Counsel for Faizan argued that the invocation of the UAPA was a gross abuse by the investigating agency as there was neither any allegation nor any material to even remotely show that he funded or participated in any terror activity.

Faizan was a poor salesman who worked on a meager salary at a shop in Okhla, the counsel said.

After considering the material available on record, the Court noted that it was nobody's case that Faizan Khan was part of any Whatsapp group which coordinated or organized protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019.

There is also no allegation that he engaged in any form of terror funding or such other ancillary activity, the Court added.

Further observing that the SIM card was taken in December 2019 while the violence erupted in February 2020, the Court said,

"There is no proximate nexus between the aforesaid alleged incidents nor is it alleged that the said SIM card was provided, on the pretext or with the intention/objective, to be utilized for organizing protests, etc."

The Court iterated that for invoking the UAPA, Delhi Police ought to have demonstrated that Faizan Khan had “actual knowledge” that the said SIM card would be used for organizing the protests.

The Court further held,

The Court also took into account that Faizan Khan voluntarily appeared before the investigating agency for questioning and did not evade or flee between the periods of registration of the FIR iin March and his arrest in July.

"There is no proof on record such as CCTV footage, video or chats of the petitioner with any of the group except the allegation that he provided SIM on fake ID in December 2019 and taken a small amount of Rs.200/- for the same.", the Court stated.

In view of the above, the Court deemed it fit to grant bail to Faizan Khan on furshining a personal bond in the sum of Rs 25,000 with one surety of the like amount.

Senior Advocate Salman Khurshid with Advocates Azra Rehman, Aadil Singh Boparai, Ragini Nayak appeared for Faizan Khan.

ASG SV Raju with SPPs Amit Mahajan, Rajat Nair and Advocates Shantnu Sharma, A Venkatesh, Guntur Pramod Kumar, Dhruv Pandey, Sairica Raju, Shaurya R Rai appeared for Delhi Police.

Read the Order: