India News | Should Have Raised Grounds to Oppose Extension of Detention, Probe Time: HC to UAPA Case Accused
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. The Delhi High Court on Tuesday was critical of an accused, booked under the stringent anti-terror law UAPA, and said he should have raised other grounds before the trial court to challenge extension of his detention instead of seeking a copy of the plea moved by police for more time to complete probe and to keep him in custody till then.
New Delhi, Sep 1 (PTI) The Delhi High Court on Tuesday was critical of an accused, booked under the stringent anti-terror law UAPA, and said he should have raised other grounds before the trial court to challenge extension of his detention instead of seeking a copy of the plea moved by police for more time to complete probe and to keep him in custody till then.
The high court said it was settled law that in such cases, a copy of application for extension of detention and time for probe as well as reasons for the same need not be given to the accused.
The remarks by Justice Vibhu Bakhru came while reserving his judgement on the accused's plea challenging extension of his detention and the time to complete investigation in a case related to communal violence in northeast Delhi in February.
The high court said the accused was given a notice by the trial court on the police plea seeking more time to complete its probe and to extend his detention, but he chose to canvas arguments only on the issue that he did not receive a copy of the application and the reasons given by the agency for keeping him in custody.
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The high court said that the Supreme Court had already held in Sanjay Dutt's case that a copy of application for extension of detention and time for probe as well as reasons for the same need not be given to the accused.
"What the Supreme Court held is binding. The reasons you are demanding cannot be given. You (accused) were given a hearing, but you chose to canvass arguments on an issue settled by SC. You could have chosen to canvass other issues and tried to persuade the trial court why your detention be not extended. Here also you did not make any other representation. Here also you have contended that you have a right to get the reasons," the high court said.
The observations by the high court came while hearing the plea by Khalid, who is a member of campaign group -- United Against Hate -- and is lodged in judicial custody in the case.
United Against Hate was a citizens' campaign launched in 2017 to protest against series of lynching in the country and its members also participated in protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act.
The accused has sought to set aside the trial court's August 13 order by which police was granted extension till September 17 to complete investigation against 10 people booked under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in the case.
The plea sought to set aside the trial court order and that he be released on bail till pendency of the case.
"Grave prejudice has been caused to the petitioner (Khalid) as without supply of the copy of the said application, and a copy of the prosecutor's report, the petitioner was unaware of the grounds invoked by the prosecution seeking extension of his detention, thereby depriving him of a fair opportunity to take legitimate and legal grounds available to him, to oppose the said application.
"The State sought to extend the detention of the petitioner (Khalid) and hence it was only fair and reasonable that copies of the application and report should have be given to the petitioner," the plea said
Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Aman Lekhi, appearing for the agency, opposed the plea and said that the accused was heard by the trial court and therefore, he cannot say that principles of natural justice were denied to him.
Lekhi further said that it was settled law that reasons for extending detention or completing the probe cannot be granted in such cases and therefore, the accused had no right to demand the same.
The trial court has granted further time to the police to complete its pending probe against Jamia Coordination Committee member Meeran Haider, Jamia students Asif Iqbal Tanha and Gulfisha Khatoon, Jamia Alumni Association President Shifa-Ur-Rehman, JNU students and Pinjra Tod members Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita, suspended AAP councilor Tahir Hussain, former Congress Councillor Ishrat Jahan and United Against Hate member Khalid and Shadab Ahmed.
Pinjra Tod (Break the Cage) was founded in 2015 to make hostels and paying guest accommodations less restrictive for women students.
The trial court had earlier extended time till August 14 for completion of investigation against Khalid and Jahan, till August 24 in case of Rehman and till August 29 for Haider, Hussain and Khatoon.
In its August 13 order, the trial court had said that investigation was still going on regarding the conspiracy which was "deep rooted, large scale and multi-layered" and all the different aspects pertaining to different accused persons including inter-linkages were being investigated as regard to the conspiracy.
The prosecutor had said before the trial court that the investigation could not be completed for Khalid and Jahan by August 14 in view of the inter-linkages and overall conspiracy.
The police had sought extension of time till September 17 for concluding investigation against the 10 accused, under section 43D (2) (b) of the anti-terror law.
Section 43-D (2) of UAPA provides that if it is not possible to complete the investigation within the 90-day period, then upon the report of the public prosecutor indicating the progress of the probe and the specific reasons for the detention of the accused beyond the 90 days period, after satisfaction, the court can extend the period of probe to 180 days.
Communal clashes had broken out in northeast Delhi on February 24 after violence between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control leaving at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured. PTI HMP SKV
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)