Delhi Violence: Court dismisses anticipatory bail plea of accused in UAPA case

New Delhi [India], November 27 (ANI): A Delhi court has dismissed the anticipatory bail petition of Zakir, who is an accused in a case filed under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act related to the northeast Delhi violence in February.
According to the police, the case pertaining to the larger conspiracy behind the violence also includes former AAP leader Tahir Hussain, JNU student leader Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and others as accused in the matter.
Additional Session Judge Amitabh Rawat, while dismissing the plea on Thursday, said that the applicant's role is under investigation and his mobile phone has already been seized.
"There is merit in the submissions of the prosecution that his role, being ascertained, cannot be
shared or divulged in detail. Therefore, at this stage, I do not see any merit in the
application under consideration," ASJ Rawat said.
Advocate M Rehman, counsel for the applicant, submitted that Zakir is a law-abiding citizen and has never been convicted by any court of law. The applicant has been called frequently to the office of Special Cell in respect to the investigation, he submitted.
"The applicant has an unblemished record but he apprehends that false allegations may be levelled against him. It is also submitted that there is no further requirement of the applicant as he has already appeared earlier and undertakes to appear and attend the court or the Investigating Officer, as per the directions," Rehman submitted.
Special Public Prosecutor Amit Prasad, on the other hand, submitted that the role of the applicant has surfaced during the investigation of the case.
"The mobile phone of the applicant has been seized. The role of the applicant is being ascertained and cannot be shared or divulged in detail as it would be detrimental to and hamper the investigation of the present case as further investigation is continuing under Section 173(8) of the Code of Criminal Procedure," Prasad said.
He added that the content of the application regarding the threat to the applicant is totally false, baseless and motivated and just to put pressure on the police.
Moreover, the applicant has not disclosed his previous applications in other courts and thus, he has not come to the court with clean hands, Prasad submitted.
At least 53 people were killed and hundreds of others were injured in the violence that took place in northeast Delhi between February 24 and 26 sparked by clashes between groups supporting and opposing the Citizenship Amendment Act. (ANI)