Umar Khalid moves Delhi High Court against dropping attempt to murder charge against men who fired at him

Activist and former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) scholar has moved the Delhi High Court challenging a trial court's order to drop attempt to murder charge against two men who had fired shots at him outside the Constitution Club in New Delhi..Justice Anoop Kumar Mendiratta of the High Court on Wednesday issued notice to the Delhi Police and the two accused men, Darwesh Shahpur and Naveen Dalal. The Court sought their responses and listed the case for further consideration on May 21. Senior Advocate Trideep Pais appeared for Khalid before the High Court and stated that the order of the trial court was shocking. He said that accused had stalked Khalid on Facebook, procured a gun and planned the entire incident. They even shot a video admitting to the incident, it was contended..The incident dates back to August 13, 2018 when Khalid was shot at outside the Constitution Club where he had come for an event organised by a body known as ‘United Against Hate’. Subsequently, Shahpur and Dalal were arrested by the Delhi Police.The police invoked Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 201 (destroying evidence) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the IPC.Section 25/27 of the Arms Act were also invoked against the accused. .However, a Sessions Court December 6, 2023 discharged the two accused of offences under Section 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Additional Sessions Judge Devender Kumar Jangala of Patiala House Court noted as per the eyewitness statement, when accused Dalal pointed a gun at Khalid no shots were fired and when the shots were fired, it was not aimed to any person but towards the ground only. "It is an admitted fact that in first incident which has taken place at about 2.07 PM, there are allegations with regard to pointing of pistol towards the complainant. None of the witnesses has alleged that the accused had pulled the trigger or attempted to pull the trigger of pistol. It is also admitted story of prosecution that in the second incident when the accused Naveen Dalal @ Naval was being followed by public witness Khalid Saifi, the accused has fired aiming towards the ground and he has not aimed towards any person," the trial court said. Therefore, the prosecution has not placed on record any material to show the definite intention to cause death on the part of the accused, the trial court said. In the absence of definite intention to cause death in the second incident, the accused can not be charged for commission of offence punishable under Section 307 IPC, it added. .After discharging the accused of offence of Section 307, the trial court said that since the remaining offences against the accused are triable by the court of magistrate, the file should be sent to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate.