AGRA/LUCKNOW: The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed an appeal by the Uttar Pradesh government against the Allahabad high court order that had quashed Dr Kafeel Khan’s detention under the National Security Act (NSA) in September. We see no reason to interfere, a three-judge bench of Chief Justice of India S A Bobde and Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian said. Criminal cases against Khan will be decided on their own merits , the bench added.
Khan had been held at Mathura jail for seven months after he delivered a speech during the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act at Aligarh Muslim University which the government deemed provocative . The high court had, while allowing his release, observed that his speech does not disclose any effort to promote hatred or violence . It, instead, gives a call for national integrity and unity… (and) deprecates any kind of violence .
File photo of Dr Kafeel Khan. | PTI
The Uttar Pradesh government has approached the Supreme Court, seeking to challenge the Allahabad High Court’s order quashing the detention of Dr Kafeel Khan under the National Security Act,
Live Law reported on Saturday. The Adityanath-led government filed a special leave petition on October 26, and the matter is to be listed before the Supreme Court on December 17.
In September, the Allahabad High Court had revoked the charges under the National Security Act against Khan. He had been in custody since January 29 for making allegedly inflammatory remarks during a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act at the Aligarh Muslim University in December last year. The court in its order had said that Khan’s speech did not “disclose any effort to promote hatred or violence” and had termed the three extensions of his detention as illegal.