A Delhi court on Saturday has discharged student activist Umar Khalid and United Against Hate member Khalid Saifi in a case in connection with the 2020 North East Delhi riots.
Former JNU students’ union leader Khalid was arrested by the Delhi police in September 2020 after being accused of stone-pelting in relation with the violence that erupted in the Khajuri Khas area.
The Delhi Police had said that Khalid’s speech was a “very calculated” move as he mentioned topics like Babri Masjid, triple talaq, Kashmir, the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
In the stone-pelting case, the FIR against the both said that AAP councillor Tahir Hussain, Khalid Saifi and Umar Khalid had conspired to plan the riot during their meeting at Shaheen Bagh on 8 January.
Khalid and Saifi have been discharged in this case, on which they were on bail, but they will remain in judicial custody in the Delhi riots larger conspiracy case. They have been booked under sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) accusing them of hatching a larger conspiracy behind the riots
