Delhi riots 2020 Part of peaceful protest Gulfisha Fatima tells Delhi HC

    New Delhi, May 27 (PTI) Student activist Gulfisha Fatima, accused in a UAPA case over an alleged conspiracy behind the February 2020 northeast Delhi riots, argued in the high court on Tuesday that she was part of a peaceful protest and there was no evidence to show her involvement in the violence.
    The counsel for Fatima made the claim in his rejoinder arguments before a Delhi High Court bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Shalinder Kaur which was hearing her plea for bail.
    The counsel objected to the prosecution's allegations that she instigated local women to collect red chilli powder, bottles and sticks, emphasising that nothing was recovered from her possession.
    He said Fatima organised the protest site in Seelampur and was a local resident and while she was present at the chakka jam held at Jafrabad, the same was peaceful.
    "There is no recovery of any lal mirch, bottles or danda from me. There is no MLC to show anyone was injured by this on the protest site where the petitioner was present.... None of the acts attributed to her was committed by her," the lawyer said.
    He also raised questions on the credibility of the witnesses' statements, alleging that the prosecution has sought to "twist facts".
    "Not one witness has come forward voluntarily," he said.
    He further said that Fatima's role was "lesser" than that of Pinjra Tod activists Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal, who were granted bail by the high court in June 2021 in the case.
    The trial court refused to grant bail to her in the case on March 16, 2022.
    The high court has listed the case for further hearing on July 1.
    Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and several others have been booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and provisions of the Indian Penal Code for allegedly being the "masterminds" of the February 2020 riots, which had left 53 people dead and more than 700 injured.
    The violence had erupted during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC).
    The bail pleas of Sharjeel Imam and other co-accused -- Khalid Saifi, Fatima and others -- are pending in the high court since 2022 and were heard by different benches from time to time.
    Khalid's bail plea is also pending in the court.
    Police have opposed the bail applications of all accused, saying the communal violence of February 2020 was a case of a "clinical and pathological conspiracy".
    Speeches delivered by Khalid, Imam and other accused created a sense of fear with their common pattern of references to the CAA-NRC, the Babri mosque, "triple talaq" and Kashmir, police have alleged.
    They have contended that in a case involving such "grave" offences, the principle of "bail is the rule and jail is the exception" could not be invoked.
    Police have also stated that there was no material to suggest any attempt by the prosecution to delay the trial court proceedings and that the right to a speedy trial was not a "free pass".

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)