‘Is setting up protest sites enough to invoke UAPA?’: HC asks Delhi Police in 2020 riots case

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the police whether setting up protest sites was enough to invoke the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act against those accused in the case pertaining to the 2020 riots in the national capital, Live Law reported.

A division bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Shalinder Kaur made the remarks after the police opposed the bail petition of eight activists accused in the matter, citing chats found on the messaging application WhatsApp related to the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act.

“Is it your case that only setting up of a protest site is good enough for UAPA [Unlawful Activities Prevention Act] or is it your case that protest site which resulted in a violence is good enough for a case under UAPA?” the bench asked, according to Bar and Bench.

“But most importantly, for us, it is the intent, under UAPA, which has to be established,” it added.

The eight activists – Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Mohd. Saleem Khan, Shifa ur Rehman, Shadab Ahmed, Athar Khan, Khalid Saifi and Gulfisha Fatima – had moved the High Court seeking bail in the case.

They have been in jail for over four years.

The activists were booked under sections of the Indian Penal Code, Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, Arms Act and the Unlawful Activities…

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