New Delhi: The 2020 North East Delhi riots was not a spontaneous protest, but a “conspiracy hatched” to achieve the “final regime change goal” in India. It was a carefully crafted pan-India violence to destabilise the country’s internal harmony and international standing.
With this submission the Delhi Police Thursday opposed in the Supreme Court the bail plea of a few accused in the larger conspiracy case related to the 2020 riots. Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Meeran Haider, Gulfisha Fatima and Shifa Ur Rehman are before the top court, questioning the 2 September Delhi High Court order, refusing bail to them.
According to the police affidavit, the riots were not spontaneous and there is sufficient evidence—ocular, documentary and technical—linking the accused to the riots and the conspiracy behind it.
It was an attempt to draw international media’s attention to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Hence, the riots were planned to coincide with the official visit of U.S. President Donald Trump, ensuring global media attention.
“The issue of CAA was carefully chosen to serve as a ‘radicalising catalyst’ camouflaged in the name of ‘peaceful protest’,” submitted the Delhi Police in its bulky response running to more than 300 pages.
A bench led by Justice Aravind Kumar will hear the bail petitions Friday.
The Delhi Police affidavit filed Thursday draws considerably from the Delhi Police’s chargesheet filed in the case to highlight Khalid and Imam’s role as key conspirators. Khalid’s speech in Amravati, delivered before Trump’s visit, is mentioned to support the police argument that he played a crucial role in planning the violence.
The police claim they have encrypted chats to establish that the unrest was meant to project the CAA as a “pogrom against Muslims”.
The affidavit also mentions there was similar violence in other states around the same time, indicating it was an orchestrated nationwide pattern.
In Uttar Pradesh, the affidavit notes, there were riots in over twenty districts, reportedly causing over 20 deaths, for which 1,000 were arrested.
There were deaths and violence in Guwahati and Dibrugarh in Assam, and in West Bengal, there were attacks on trains and railway stations causing losses of Rs 70 crore.
Widespread vandalism, arson, police firing were reported in Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Bihar, along with the detention of thousands.
In this backdrop, the police claimed the riots in North East Delhi were not isolated civil unrest, but part of a pan-India conspiracy.
The affidavit blamed the accused for systematically delaying proceedings in the trial court through frivolous applications. It placed the onus on defence counsel for ensuring expeditious trial of the case, since their non-cooperation, which according to the affidavit is a coordinated attempt, has slowed the trial.
Giving examples of how the defence has attributed to the delay, the police claimed section 207 Criminal Procedure Code (CrPc) proceedings—related to supply of documents filed along with the chargesheet—were stretched across 39 hearings over a period of two years.
Charges have not been framed as proceedings have been stalled, given that only 11 accused have argued so far. Close to 50 hearings have taken place on this, the affidavit pointed out.
In its judgment rejecting their bail, the Delhi High Court had held the accused responsible for the delay in completing the trial.
The affidavit rebutted the claim of the accused that the witness list in the case is unmanageable. According to it, only 100-150 witnesses are material, with the rest being repetitive or technical, and that the trial can be concluded swiftly if the accused cooperate.
The affidavit touched upon the stringent bail provisions for terror-linked offences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and maintained that the law to tackle grave offences prohibits release merely on grounds of trial delay, specifically when the accused have failed to rebut the prima facie presumption of guilt. “Jail and not bail is the rule,” it said.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
Also read: SC refuses 2 weeks for Delhi Police response to bail for 2020 riots conspiracy accused, gives 3 days