Supreme Court transfers Dr Kafeel's 'instigating speech' case to Allahabad HC

The Supreme Court on Wednesday transferred to Allahabad High Court the case pertaining to the arrest of Dr Kafeel Khan in connection with his alleged provocative speech against the amended Citizenship Law (CAA) at Aligarh Muslim University in December last year.

Earlier, Dr Kafeel Khan was granted bail

A petition had been filed in the top court seeking a hearing into the case and his urgent release. Earlier, Dr Kafeel Khan was granted bail by the Aligarh court, but before he could be released, Aligarh district magistrate had passed a direction for his detention under the National Security Act (NSA). A writ petition was filed by Dr Khan, through lawyer Fuzail Ayyubi, before the apex court. Ayyubi argued that his client should be released immediately, as he was illegally booked under the NSA.

Last month, Dr Nusratullah Warsi, Khan’s maternal uncle, was shot dead by some unidentified miscreants inside his house in Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur. According to police, some unidentified miscreants barged into his house in Gorakhpur's Bankat Chukk area under Rajghat Police Station and shot him dead.

An officer who visited the murder site along with crime branch sleuths, said, “An angle of property dispute and money-related argument is suspected at the moment."

"On the written complaint of family members, case of murder against one Imammuddin and Anil Sonkar has been registered and police has initiated a probe and is searching for both the accused. Police met the women in their house and is interrogating them," Circle Officer VP Singh said.

Arrest and NSA charges

Dr Kafeel Khan was arrested by the UP Special Task Force from Mumbai on January 29 for allegedly giving a provocative speech at the open talk in the Aligarh Muslim University on December 13, 2019. As per the police FIR, he reportedly stated that the BJP leadership was teaching everyone to adhere to their religion first, rather than becoming good human beings.

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Alleging that the Citizenship Amendment Bill rendered Muslims as second-class citizens, he purportedly claimed that they would be harassed after the implementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) The paediatrician had come to the limelight in 2017 when a controversy broke out after the death of over 60 children in less than a week at the BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, where he was posted.

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(With agency inputs)