News Analysis India

Tag: Anti CAA protests

  • Anti-CAA protest: SC agrees to hear plea of alleged protestor against Allahabad HC order on damages

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a plea of an alleged anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protester against the Allahabad High Court order asking him to deposit ten per cent of Rs 1,90,857 towards damages caused to the public and private properties in Mao district of Uttar Pradesh in 2019.

    A bench of Justices LN Rao and BR Gavai issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh government and sought its response.

    Senior advocate Collin Gonsalves, appearing for the petitioner Sarfraz, said that there is no CCTV footage of his involvement in the alleged violence incidents and he has not been named in any of the FIRs.

    “The UP government is targeting the activists involved in anti-CAA protests and hence notice was issued to him for recovery of damages. On the day of the incident, a mob had allegedly caused damage to public and private properties in which the petitioner’s involvement is not established”, he said.

    He said that the petitioner is a simple man from a weaver community who has helped many people during the nationwide lockdown with food and medical help.

    The bench said that it is issuing notice on the plea which has challenged the Allahabad High Court order of May 10.

    In his plea, Sarfraz said that a nationwide protest against the new Citizenship Amendment Act passed on December 11, 2019, granting citizenship to minorities excluding Muslims, facing persecution from neighbhouring countries, was launched on December 16, 2019.

    He said that the peaceful protest was organised as a part of a national protest against the new law in Mau city in which nearly a thousand people participated.

    “The petitioner was issued a notice by the Additional District Magistrate, Mau on February 4, 2020…stating that on December 16, 2019, an unlawful assembly caused damaged to property of Nagar Palika, police department and other public and private property”, the petition said adding that it was alleged that petitioner was prima facie responsible for the damages to the property.

    The plea said that the petitioner in his reply to the notice contended that he has neither participated in any illegal assembly nor has he caused any damage to the public or private property or supported or encouraged any movement or procession.

    “The petitioner has never participated in any procession or illegal assembly on the alleged date of occurrence for which the several FIRs have been lodged against the petitioner. Additionally, the CCTV camera that is installed in the police station Dakshin Tola, district Mau does not contain any footage of the petitioner at the time of the alleged offence,” it said.

    The plea said that the Additional District Magistrate on February 22, passed an ex-parte order on the report of SHO, Dakshin Tola for the recovery of damages caused during the mob that broke out on December 16, 2019.

    Sarfraz sought an ex-parte stay of the High Court order saying that the judge of the High Court without applying his mind and the changed circumstances imposed ten per cent of the estimated amount as damages without going to the merits of the case.

  • Anti-CAA speech: Allahabad HC quashes criminal proceedings against Kafeel Khan

    By PTI

    ALLAHABAD: The Allahabad High Court on Thursday quashed criminal proceedings against paediatrician Kafeel Khan over an anti-CAA speech made by him at the Aligarh Muslim University campus due to lack of necessary sanction from the government.

    A single-judge bench of Justice Gautam Chaudhary set aside a chargesheet and cognisance order passed against Khan, noting that requisite sanction was not taken by district magistrate from central and state governments under section 196(a) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) for such cases.

    However, he made it clear that the chargesheet and its cognisance may be taken by the court after the mandatory sanction is granted under section 196 (a) of the CrPC by the central as well as the state government.

    The chargesheet and cognisance order was passed against Khan by the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Aligarh in a case wherein Khan had delivered an alleged inflammatory speech during a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) at AMU in 2019.

    Following the event, an FIR was lodged against Khan under section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration), 505(2) (statement creating or promoting, enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes) and 109 (abetment of offence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

    Consequently, he was arrested and sent to jail.

    The police submitted the chargesheet before the Aligarh court on March 16, 2020 and the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) took its cognisance on July 28, 2020.

    Khan then filed a petition challenging it.

    According to section 196(a) of the CrPC, no court shall take cognisance of any offence under section 153A of the IPC except with the previous sanction of the central government or state government or the district magistrate.

  • Why no FIR against Anurag Thakur, Kapil Mishra in Delhi riots case, asks UAPA accused

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Jamia Millia Islamia Alumni Association President Shifa-Ur-Rehman, who was arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in connection with the Delhi riots asked in the court on Tuesday why no FIR was registered against Union Minister Anurag Thakur, BJP leader Kapil Mishra, and others for allegedly instigating riots.

    During the bail hearing, Shifa’s lawyer, Abhishek Singh, showed Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat a complaint filed by him on January 30, 2020, seeking registration of FIR against Thakur, Mishra, another BJP leader Parvesh Sharma, and Jamia Shooter Ram Bhakt Gopal for allegedly ‘instigating riots’.

    “Did the prosecution even bother to call them as witnesses or accused or issue a notice that we want to know something? Because they said ‘shoot xyz’ so they know who those people are. They will at least have some evidence. Why was no FIR registered against them? This was the complaint I was pursuing,” Singh said.

    ALSO READ | Delhi riots: Police told to submit status update of trials

    According to the complaint, as read by the lawyer in the court, Shifa mentioned that Mishra took out a rally in which slogans to shoot were raised, following which Thakur on January 28, 2020, said: “desh ke gaddaron ko….”

    In January 2020, Thakur had allegedly egged on participants of an election rally to raise an incendiary slogan.

    While the minister raised the slogan “Desh ke gaddaron ko…..(the traitors of the country)”, the crowd responded by chanting: “Goli maaro saalon ko…..(shoot them).”

    shifa is accused of collecting money to fund various sit-in protests against Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC).

    He, along with several others, has been booked under the anti-terror law in the case for being the “masterminds” of the February 2020 violence, which had left 53 people dead and over 700 injured.

    Alluding to the alleged funding, the lawyer affirmed that Shifa had made “some financial arrangements” but questioned whether paying some protestors make it an offence under the stringent UAPA.

    Advocate Singh further emphasized that being a member or president of the alumni association or a protester is not an offence as people are entitled to their opinion and can peacefully protest against anything.

    ​ALSO READ | Umar Khalid calls Delhi riots conspiracy case ‘cooked up’, points to contradictions

    “Why have I been roped in? I fail to understand. There is a fundamental right to protest. If a certain section of society is aggrieved by certain legislation and protest against it, that is not a crime. They can protest,” the lawyer told the court.

    Furthermore, Shifa’s counsel sought bail for him saying that there has been a systematic violation of his fundamental rights and that he cannot be put in the bracket of rioters.

    He also read his WhatsApp chats to show that there was no instigation of violence.

    Besides him, former JNU student leader Umar Khalid, JNU students Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita, Jamia Coordination Committee members Safoora Zargar, former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain and several others have also been booked under the stringent law in the case.

  • Anti-CAA protests: Sharjeel Imam denies inciting violence, says cannot be hammered with sedition

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: JNU student Sharjeel Imam, arrested for allegedly making inflammatory speeches during the protests against CAA and NRC, told a Delhi court on Monday that he cannot be hammered with sedition as his speeches did not call for violence.

    Imam has moved the court seeking bail in a case related to speeches made by him at two universities in 2019, where he allegedly threatened to “cut off” Assam and the rest of the Northeast from India.

    He has been arrested under UAPA and sedition.

    During the hearing, advocate Tanveer Ahmed Mir, representing the accused, apprised Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat that no part of his speech called for any kind of violence to be initiated.

    “When Sharjeel Imam says that this piece of legislation (CAA/NRC) is unconstitutional, and seeks to persuade the government to rethink and says if you don’t do it, we will be on the streets, he cannot be hammered by sedition,” the counsel asserted.

    He further said that the right to protest, the right to blockade, and the right to bring the country to a standstill is not equal to an act of sedition.

    “The speech did not call for violence. He just called for a road blockade. He did not say that the northeast should become a different state and declare independence. That would have been seditious,” advocate Mir added.

    He emphasised that Imam is not a member of any banned organisation or terrorist gang but is merely a student.

    The alleged inflammatory speeches were made at Jamia Millia Islamia on December 13, 2019, and at Aligarh Muslim University on December 16, 2019.

    He is in judicial custody since January 28, 2020.

    Imam is accused of offenses relating to sedition, promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, imputations prejudicial to national integration, and public mischief under the Indian Penal Code, and indulging in unlawful activities under the UAPA.

    Delhi Police had filed a charge sheet against Imam in the case, in which it alleged that he allegedly gave speeches inciting hatred, contempt, and disaffection towards the Central Government and instigated the people which led to the violence in December 2019.

    “In the garb of CAA, he (Imam) exhorted people of a particular community to block highways leading to major cities and resort to ‘chakka jaam’. Also, in the name of opposing CAA, he openly threatened to cut off Assam and other Northeastern states from the rest of the country,” the charge sheet had said.

  • A day after release, Assam MLA Akhil Gogoi assures revival of anti-CAA movement

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI: The movement against the Citizenship Amendment Act that rocked Assam will be revived, MLA Akhil Gogoi said on Friday.

    Speaking to reporters at Nagaon, Gogoi said the leaders of the movement betrayed the people of the state while he was kept in jail.

    “Now that I am out, I want to assure the people that the anti-CAA movement will resume. No (illegal) foreigner will be allowed to stay in the state,” he said on the way to his constituency Sivasagar, a day after he was released from jail.

    Gogoi spent nearly 19 months behind bars for his alleged role in the violent protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in December 2019.

    He fought and won the recently-concluded assembly elections from the jail.

    Gogoi alleged that the BJP-led state government was not sympathetic towards the problems of the people.

    “I will raise the issues of big dams and toll gates in the state Assembly. If the government fails to give a proper response, we will have to take the path of agitation,” he said.

    On the way to Sivasagar, around 400 km from Guwahati, Gogoi had to stop multiple times as his supporters and locals lined the roads cheering for him.

    “This outpour of people’s love for a jailed person like me proves that I was wrongly confined. The BJP kept me behind bars and won a second term but this won’t happen again. In 2026, a new government will be formed. The BJP ‘hatao’ (remove BJP) movement starts from today,” the Raijor Dal president asserted.

    This was the first time that Gogoi shall be visiting Sivasagar after being elected.

  • Assam activist Akhil Gogoi alleges torture in custody, claims NIA offered bail if he joined BJP

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI:  Anti-CAA activist Akhil Gogoi in a letter from jail on Tuesday alleged physical and mental torture in custody and claimed that he was offered instant bail by NIA interrogators if he joined either the RSS or BJP.

    The letter released by Gogoi’s newly floated political outfit Raijor Dal said that the peasant leader was taken to Delhi on December 18, 2019 without the Court’s permission.

    “At the NIA headquarter, I was lodged in lockup no 1 and was given only one dirty blanket. I slept on the floor in 3-4 degree celsius of temperature,” he claimed.

    During interrogation, the NIA officials offered him instant bail if he joined the RSS, the letter claimed.

    “When I was arguing against the insulting offer, they came out with another proposal of joining the BJP. They said I could contest the Assembly against a vacant seat and become a minister,” Gogoi claimed.

    The RTI activist also alleged that he was offered Rs 20 crore to start an NGO by leaving the peasant body Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) and work against conversion of Assamese people into Christianity.

    “When I did not accept any of their proposals, they offered me a meeting with the chief minister and an influential minister of Assam. I turned down that too,” Gogoi said.

    He alleged that when he accepted none of the NIA offers, he was called a “disobedient citizen” as charged in extreme cases.

    “I was threatened with dire consequences if I don’t accept their proposals. Death threats also came. I was threatened with at least 10 years of imprisonment. With so much physical and mental torture, I became restless on the night of December 20,” Ggogi wrote.

    He was admitted to Gauhati Medical College and Hospital for treating COVID-19 and remains there for other ailments.

    “I was threatened with dire consequences if I don’t accept their proposals. Death threats also came. I was threatened with at least 10 years of imprisonment.”

    “With so much physical and mental torture, I became restless on the night of December 20,” Ggogi wrote.

    The NIA had arrested him in December 2019 for his alleged role in violent anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests.

    He was admitted to Gauhati Medical College and Hospital for treating COVID-19 and remains there for other ailments.

    When contacted, BJP spokesperson Rupam Goswami told PTI “These are all baseless allegations and nothing but cheap politics.

    The letter was issued just four days before the polling starts in Assam and it is done only to gain votes.

    “However, the people of Assam have understood what Akhil Gogoi is. Assamese people are very mature. Nobody will vote for him and he will lose his deposit,” he added.

    Sivasagar constituency from where Gogoi is contesting, is going for polls in the first phase on March 27.

  • Foreigners covered under CAA can submit application for citizenship after appropriate rules notified: Govt

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: In a written reply to Lok Sabha, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai on Tuesday said that the foreigners covered under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) may submit applications for grant of Indian citizenship after appropriate rules are notified by the Central Government.

    “The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) has been notified on December 12, 2019, and has come into force from January 10, 2020. The foreigners covered under this Amendment Act may submit applications for grant of Indian citizenship after appropriate rules are notified by the Central Government,” said Nityanand Rai replying to Congress MP VK Sreekandan’s question whether the process of granting Indian citizenship to refugees under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) will begin once the process of COVID-19 vaccination ends.

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    MoS Home further added that the Committees on Subordinate Legislation, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have granted time up to April 9, 2021, and July 9, 2021, respectively to frame these rules.

    The CAA was passed by the parliament in December 2019. The law grants citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian refugees from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan and came to India before 2015.

    The NRC for Assam is a record maintained by the Central Government for the people of Assam. It contains names and certain relevant information for the identification of citizens in the state. Currently, the register exists only for Assam. However, on November 20, 2019, Home Minister Amit Shah declared during a parliamentary session that the register would be extended to the entire country soon. The register was first prepared after the 1951 Census of India.

  • Right to protest and express dissent comes with certain duties: Supreme Court

    By Online Desk
    The Supreme Court has dismissed a review petition challenging the Shaheen Bagh protest judgement passed last year which said protests should be at a designated place.

    The order passed on February 9th said that the right to protest cannot be anytime and everywhere.

    The plea was filed by one Shaheen Bagh resident Kaniz Fatima and others seeking review of last year’s verdict of October 7.

    The top court, which considered the matter in the judges’ chambers also rejected the prayer for open court hearing in the matter.

    Dismissing the petition, the Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Aniruddha Bose and Krishna Murari felt that the earlier judgement “does not suffer from any error apparent warranting its reconsideration.”

    The Constitutional scheme comes with a right to protest and express dissent but with an obligation to have certain duties, the order said.

    “There may be some spontaneous protests but in case of prolonged dissent or protest, there cannot be continued occupation of public place affecting rights of others,” it read.

    Shaheen Bagh order

    In October 2020, A bench headed by Justice S K Kaul passed the verdict on batch of petitions against the anti-CAA protests in the national capital’s Shaheen Bagh.

    It said protests should be at a designated place and any occupation of public places or roads by demonstrators, which cause inconvenience to a large number of people and violate their rights, is not permissible under law.

    The apex court also said that the authorities concerned should not hide behind courts and act on their own in such situations.

    The bench also said that the balance has to be struck between the right to protest and other public rights like the right to movement.

    “Dissent and democracy must go hand in hand but protests should be confined to designated areas,” said Justice SK Kaul.

    Restrictions were imposed on the Kaindi Kunj-Shaheen Bagh stretch and the Okhla underpass, which were closed on December 15, 2019 due to the protests.

    The Shaheen Bagh protests began against the Centre’s Citizenship Amendment law (CAA) which aimed to provide Indian citizenship to persecuted minorities of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

    Later, due to COVID-19 pandemic, the area was cleared.

    (With ENS, PTI inputs)

  • Booked during anti-CAA protests on campus, AMU student banned from Aligarh for six months

    By PTI
    ALIGARH: The Aligarh administration has banned AMU student leader Arif Khan Tyagi from the district for six months terming him a threat to peace in the city, a year after he was booked under different charges during the anti-CAA protests on the campus.

    Aligarh Muslim University spokesman Professor Shafay Kidwai told PTI the externment order pertained to the protests on the campus against the Citizenship Amendment Act which began on December 15, 2019.

    The externment order was issued to the final-year post graduate student by the Additional District Magistrate (ADM) City Rakesh Kumar Maalpani last week under the Uttar Pradesh Control of Goondas Act.

    Arif received it two days back.

    The order stated that Arif was a threat to the peace of the city and his presence posed a danger to its peace-loving residents.

    Arif has had more than half a dozen cases registered against him during the two months of anti-CAA protest on the campus in December 2019 and January 2020.

    After he was served the order, Arif told mediapersons that all the cases against him pertained to protests on the campus.

    He said all citizens whether farmers, trade union members or students have a right to peaceful protest.

    “The externment order was yet another attempt to muzzle freedom of expression,” he said, adding he would move court against the order.

    AMU spokesperson Kidwai said the student had been named by the police for the violent incidents which took place on the night of December 15, 2019.

    He said that the university had not separately filed any complaint against the student.

    Violent protests had broken out against the CAA on the campus on December 15 in which over 70 people, including students, AMU security staff and police personnel were injured.

    The university had to announce an extended winter break following the clashes.