By Sohini Ghosh
The Delhi High Court has relied on the prosecution’s submission that Khalid Saifi gave a gun to a child and instructed him to fire at the police as it dismissed the United Against Hate founder’s plea challenging the attempt to murder charge framed against him in a case stemming from the 2020 Northeast Delhi riots.
The case involves an FIR filed at the Jagatpuri police station regarding an anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protest at Masjidwali Gali in Khureji Khas, which allegedly led to stone pelting and firing on the police on February 26, 2020. The Delhi High Court dismissed his plea on Tuesday and the detailed order was made available on Thursday.
Saifi challenged two orders by a Shahdara court—one from January 1 and another from April 29—in which charges were framed against him and 12 others.
Through his counsel, senior advocate Rebecca John, Saifi contended before the Delhi High Court that to frame the charge of IPC Section 307 (atttempt to murder), the prosecution had to first establish a shared a common objective and that he was part of unlawful assembly. Secondly, he said, the prosecution had to establish that he was aware of the offences likely to be committed to achieve the common objective.
This story was originally published in indianexpress.com. Read the full story here.
