Read Time: 08 minutes

Synopsis

Senior Advocate Rebecca John for accused in the 2020 Delhi Riots Khalid Saifi concluded her arguments in his bail plea before the Delhi High Court today stating that Khalid Saifi has not committed any violence, rather he himself is a victim of custodial violence.

A special bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Rajnish Bhatnagar was hearing appeals filed by the 2020 Delhi riots accused Khalid Saifi and others against the rejection of their bail applications by the trial Court.

Regarding the conspiracy, John today stated that there were many calls but there is an explanation for it. She said that as violence was broken out, people wanted to meet Deputy Chief Minister.

John reading Saifi's msg from chats on the WhatsApp group said, "We must force Arvind Kejriwal to conduct a press conference". "My lord! My reading of these messages is to show that an attempt was being made by the people of the group to de-escalate the situation," John added.

Furthermore, John submitted that in the "New Age Education Trust" of Saifi, there are 2 wrong allegations put:

1. That he asked for 3 cheques 

2. That he had an NRI friend in Singapore who deposited money in the trust's HDFC account. 

John stated that the court can see bank details. John also mentioned details of the monthly money that was deposited in Saifi's Trust, from 2018 onwards. She argued that the allegation that the money came from the trust for the Delhi Riots was absolutely wrong.

It was also submitted that even in Ishrat Jahan's case, the trial court noted that the money may have been used in any way, so, she was granted bail. "Why is it different in Saifi's case?" John argued.

John alleged that the whole case set up was based on 2-3 men sitting in a special cell, who had given their opinion on the statements. She argued that opinions cannot be held as evidence.

John contended that "Bail is a Rule! Jail is an Exception!" and that "the trial court failed to follow it".

John showed a video stating that while Saifi was being arrested he was walking; there was not a single injury and his arrest happened just 50 meters away from the police station. She added that later, he was brought to the court in a wheelchair and badly injured. 

Additionally, she alleged that the allegation that Saifi was involved in the violence was wrong. "I have not committed any violence, I am a victim of custodial violence", John concluded her arguments.

Earlier, John had argued that the baseless remark used everywhere is that "Aurton ko aage baetha diya" (women were asked to sit in the front) during the protests as if they didn't have a mind of their own.

Trial Court Order

Earlier Trial Court's Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat dismissed Saifi's bail plea stating that the allegations against him seemed prima facie true. 

Senior Advocate Rebecca John had argued that Khalid Saifi was falsely implicated and that the entire case of the prosecution remained unsubstantiated and devoid of evidence. She had submitted that the prosecution relied on a WhatsApp Group called "DPSG". However, Khalid Saifi's participation in the said group was only peripheral and could not be used as evidence of any criminal conspiracy. 

SPP Amit Prasad had submitted that Khalid Saifi was a member of the WhatsApp Group DPSG, CAB Team, and United Against Hate (UAH) Okhla. He had also alleged that Khalid attended a meeting at Jangpura, Delhi which was also attended by Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Meeran Haider, and others. 

Allegedly, Khalid Saifi also attended the meeting on December 26, 2019, at Lodhi Colony after which DPSG was created on December 28, 2019. 

Case Title:- Abdul Khalid Saifi @ Khalid v State [Crl 210/2022]