Delhi HC condemns speech by Umar Khalid, calls it inciteful and obnoxious
Op IndiaOn Friday, April 22, a division bench of the Delhi High Court comprising Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Rajnish Bhatnagar termed one of the speeches given by Umar Khalid as ‘offensive’, obnoxious’ and ‘inciteful.’ The court made the scathing remarks while hearing the plea challenging the refusal of bail to the former JNU student, one of the prime accused in the 2020 Delhi anti-Hindu riots. It is almost as if we distinctly get the impression that it was only one particular community that fought for India’s independence,” said the division bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Rajnish Bhatnagar after Khalid’s lawyers read the contents of his speech before the court. Reading the relevant portion of the speech, Justice Bhatnagar said, “all we can say that Prima facie this is not acceptable.” The court added, “Everything else may be acceptable within the four corners of democracy and free speech, this is not acceptable.” When Umar Khalid’s lawyer responded by saying, “It is so easy to invoke UAPA today. Most recently, the Delhi Court had refused bail to so-called activist and former JNU student Umar Khalid on 24th March in connection with a case pertaining to the bigger conspiracy in the 2020 Delhi riots, involving offences under the Indian Penal Code and UAPA.