Opposing the bail plea of former JNU student leader Umar Khalid in the ‘big conspiracy’ case of Delhi riots, the prosecution told a city court on Thursday that the accused had “endangered the unity, integrity and security of the country”. ” and that it was the public who suffered and not the “conspirators”.
Concluding his arguments against the joint bail plea of Khalid and several other accused in the case, Special Public Prosecutor Amit Prasad told Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat that the “conspirators” “also raised questions on the sovereignty of the nation”. The prosecutor was upholding the inclusion of Section 15 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act – defining a ‘terrorist act’ – in the case.
“Individuals have deaths and injuries. We have seen damage and destruction of public and private property and disruption of essential services. We have seen the use of bombs, firearms and lethal weapons,” SPP Prasad told the court.
Prosecutors said: “No conspirators have been harmed; it is the public at large that has suffered.” To substantiate his arguments, he reiterated that besides damage to public and private property, 53 people were killed, while 108 policemen were injured.
‘Terror funding’
Referring to the “terror funding” aspect in the case, Mr Prasad argued that there is evidence on record that former AAP councilor Tahir Hussain was converting money “from white to black”.,
“It is a very unusual thing… we have full range of evidence, but I don’t think it is relevant at this stage… Since the (Court) is in possession of the main ED [Enforcement Directorate] The matter, which is relevant is how the money was utilised.”
The SPP said the said money was being used by the accused persons for anti-CAA-NRC protests and was also being used “for violence”.
The prosecution further stated that when people come to an agreement for unlawful assembly, “they become ad-hoc agents for each other”.
Prasad told the court, “It is not necessary that everyone is fully aware of the conspiracy… not necessarily every person is involved in every act.” They also discussed the individual roles of all the accused in the case before concluding their arguments.
The defense will now present its arguments in the matter for the next hearing on February 16. The bail application of former JNU PhD scholar Sharjeel Imam will be heard separately on February 7.
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