Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) youth wing leader Meeran Haider told the Delhi High Court that there was nothing to instigate people to resort to violence in his speeches against the Citizenship Amendment Act. (File)

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) youth wing leader Meeran Haider, booked by the Delhi Police in its larger conspiracy case connected to the 2020 Delhi riots, told the Delhi High Court Tuesday that there was nothing to instigate people to resort to violence in his speeches against the Citizenship Amendment Act.

Haider, along with several others, including Sharjeel Imam, Gulfisha Fatima, and Shifa Ur Rehman, was booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment (UAPA) Act for allegedly being the “masterminds” of the February 2020 riots, which left 53 people dead and over 700 injured. The violence erupted during the anti-CAA and National Register of Citizens (NRC) protests. Arrested in April 2020, Haider has moved the high court seeking bail.

Haider’s counsel argued before a special bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Rajnish Bhatnagar that there was “nothing on record against his client apart from him being a part of certain WhatsApp groups which has been elevated to the level of violation of UAPA”.

On speeches resorted to by the prosecution against Haider, it was submitted that “these speeches are mischaracterized by witnesses” as revolutionary without pointing out which speech is saying what.
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