UP Police registers Kafeel Khan as history-sheeter, Priyanka Vadra slams govt's 'ill-will'
On Tuesday, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra lambasted the Uttar Pradesh government after Dr.Kafeel Khan was registered as a "history-sheeter".
On Tuesday, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra lambasted the Uttar Pradesh government after Dr.Kafeel Khan was registered as a "history-sheeter". Added to the list of 1543 persons have a criminal record in Gorakhpur district, Khan will remain under police surveillance. Vadra lamented that the UP government was harassing the suspended paediatrician at a juncture when it was unable to stop crimes in the state. Moreover, she pointed out that the Supreme Court had upheld the Allahabad High Court's verdict exonerating Khan of all charges.
Prolonged detention
Khan was one of the accused in a case involving the deaths of several children due to disruption in the supply of oxygen at a Gorakhpur hospital in August 2017. He was again arrested by the UP Special Task Force from Mumbai on January 29, 2020, for allegedly giving a provocative speech at the open talk in the Aligarh Muslim University on December 12, 2019. Section 153-A (Promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion) was included in the FIR.
After being taken to Aligarh, he was sent to the Mathura district jail. Despite being granted bail by the Chief Judicial Magistrate court in Aligarh, Dr. Kafeel Khan’s release from the jail was delayed. Subsequently, he continued to languish in prison as National Security Act charges were slapped against him. In August 2020, his detention under the NSA was extended for a period of three months. On September 1, a division bench of the Allahabad High Court comprising Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Saumitra Dayal Singh quashed Khan's detention under the NSA and ordered for his release from Mathura District Jail.
In its judgment, the Allahabad HC observed that no one can be deprived of his/her personal liberty except in accordance with procedures established by law. Reproducing the full speech of Khan, the bench held that it not only gives a call for national unity but also does not show any effort to promote hatred or violence. The bench ruled that the preventive detention order cannot be sustained in the absence of any material indicating that Khan continued to act in a manner prejudicial to public order from the date of his speech to the invocation of NSA. While the UP government challenged this verdict, the SC on December 17, 2020, dismissed its plea.
Published By : Akhil Oka
Published On: 2 February 2021 at 22:26 IST