Dropping the charges levied on Dr Kafeel Khan, Allahabad High Court issued orders for his immediate release. The Court dismissed the allegations that made him stay behind the bars, under the National Security Act (NSA).
Dr. Kafeel Khan has been imprisoned since January 29th, 2020 in Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura jail.
The orders, which came as a huge relief to his mother and several supporters, were passed by a bench of two judges. Chief Justice GovindMathur led the bench while Justice SaumitraDayal Singh formed its second decision-making member.
NuzhatParveen, Dr. Khan’s mother, had filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking for the release of his son on the grounds of illegal detention. The petition said that even after he was granted bail in February, Dr. Khan was still held illegally in the prison and after four days, the NSA was invoked against him so that he doesn’t get released.
The Supreme Court directed the Allahabad High Court to take up the case and dismissed the petition saying the state HC is the more apt forum to hear it.
Serious charges were pressed against Dr. Kafeel Khan after he addressed a group of students protesting at the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) in regards to the anti-CAA marches on December 12th, 2019.
Police had arrested him from Mumbai airport and jailed in UP. After receiving bail orders too, he was deprived of his freedom and finally put into detention by imposing the NSA. The UP government went ahead and extended the detention for another three months in mid-August this year to ensure that Dr. Khan remains behind bars.
However, the Allahabad High Court slammed the detention orders against him and granted his bail. The order of the court stated, “A complete reading of the speech prima facia does not disclose any effort to promote hatred or violence. It also nowhere threatens the peace and tranquility of the city of Aligarh. The address gives a call for national integrity and unity among the citizens. The speech also deprecates any kind of violence.”
Calling the District Magistrate’s order as a judgment based on “subjective satisfaction”, it said, “It appears that the District Magistrate had selective reading and selective mention for few phrases from the speech ignoring its true intent,” adding that in the present case, the “causal link is found to be missing or completely broken”.
Given the lack of evidence, even in the form of his own actions or words, the order read, “In absence of any material indicating that the detainee continued to act in a manner prejudicial to public order from December 12, 2019, up to February 13, 2020, or that he committed any such other or further action as may have had that effect, the preventive detention order cannot be sustained.”
“In fact, the grounds of detention are silent as to public order at Aligarh being at risk of any prejudice in February 2020 on account of the offending act attributed to the detainee on the date December 12, 2019,” it added.
The court also called the duration of Dr. Khan’s detention as ‘illegal’ and gave the order in favor of the petitioner. It said, “The writ petition for the reasons above is allowed. The order of detention dated 13th February 2020 passed by District Magistrate, Aligarh, and confirmed by the State of Uttar Pradesh is set aside. The extension of the period of detention of detenue Dr. Kafeel Khan is also declared illegal.”
Finally, the court passed orders granting the immediate release of the man in question. “A writ in the nature of habeas corpus is hereby issued to release Dr. Kafeel Khan, the detenue, from State custody forthwith,” it said.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra posted a tweet saying that she hopes the UP government will let Dr. Khan be released as per the orders of the HC without holding any grudge or hatred because the government’s previous illegal detention hinted at it.
“The Allahabad High Court today ordered the removal of NSA and immediate release of DrKafeel Khan. It is expected that the UP government will release Dr. Kafeel Khan without any malice,” her tweet read.
Congratulating all “justice-loving people” and party workers, she mentioned the efforts put in by them for the release of Dr. Khan.
