Khalid’s lawyer also said many of the alleged offences in the chargesheet against his client are without witnesses and just being part of a WhatsApp group does not make him an accused.
By MuslimMirror
New Delhi : A court cannot be the prosecution’s stenographer and has to apply its mind by looking at accusations in detail, the counsel for Umar Khalid said while arguing for bail to the former JNU student on Thursday.
Khalid is an accused in the alleged larger conspiracy behind the 2020 northeast Delhi communal riots. He has been booked under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
The defence counsel commenced his arguments on a fresh application for the grant of regular bail to the former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student before Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Bajpai.
Senior Advocate Trideep Pais said the prima facie test for the accused’s guilt would not hold unless the prosecution’s evidence has “probative value”.
“The court must be satisfied with the worth of the evidence. No terrorist act has been attributed…. The court cannot be the stenographer of the prosecution…. No statements have resulted in any recovery of anything attributed to me,” he said.
This story was originally published in muslimmirror.com. Read the full story here.