On Monday. the Apex Court rejected a plea filed by the Delhi Police seeking cancellation of bail granted to Faizan Khan, a SIM card salesman, arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in connection with the northeast Delhi violence.
A bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan declined the petition of Delhi Police. Faizan Khan is facing charges for supplying mobile phone SIMs to delinquent students without mandatory verification of identity to enable them to participate in conspiracy without being detected.
The High Court of Delhi had, on Oct 23, granting bail to Khan & noted the police has failed to give any evidence that he was directly involved in the protest against Citizenship Amendment Act.
The HC had pointed out that there was no allegation against Khan that he engaged in any form of terror funding or such other ancillary activity. “For invoking the UAPA against the Khan, it is the duty of the investigating agency to demonstrate that he had “actual knowledge” that the said SIM card would be used for organising the protests,” the High Court had observed.
According to the Police, Faizan Khan & one of the charge-sheeted accused & acted in connivance with Jamia Millia Islamia University student Asif Iqbal Tanha & executed the “preparatory work” for the commission of the unlawful & terrorist acts.
The specific allegation against Faizan was that he activated the SIM card while working as the authorised Airtel representative at a store called Golden Communication.
During his interrogation, Khan had disclosed that Asif Iqbal Tanha visited the shop & had demanded the SIM card on a fake ID. Khan activated the SIM Card using ID of one Abdul Jabbar with the live photograph of one Gaurav Kumar Diwakar, working as a salesman in the shop.
The Delhi Police had alleged that this SIM card was later used by another accused, Safoora Zargar, in name of “Jamia Coordination Committee” for managing various sites & mobilising Muslim people, which led to ‘chakka jaam’ & riots.
At least 53 people were killed & several others were injured in the violence that took place in northeast Delhi between Feb 24 & 26 after the conflicts between groups supporting & opposing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) turned violent.
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