CAA protests meant to topple govt like in B'desh, Nepal: Delhi Police to SC

The protests against the CAA in the national capital were not a simple dharna but were aimed at regime change like Bangladesh and Nepal, the Delhi Police told the Supreme Court on Friday while opposing bail plea of activists Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and others in the February 2020 riots case.

Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the Delhi Police, told a bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria that the Delhi riots were the result of a conspiracy involving several accused, including Tahir Hussain, Shifa Ur Rahman, Meeran Haider, Ishrat Jahan and Khalid Saifi, who he alleged financed the violence.

Citing statements from a witness, Raju submitted that conspirators planned violence, organised chakka jams to disrupt and "choke Assam out of India," and further mobilised rioters who, armed with sticks, engaged in heavy stone-pelting.

"This is a clear case where UAPA [Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967] offences are attracted, conspiracy to commit terrorist act, murder, etc is made out. It was not a simple dharna for CAA [Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019], it was for regime change.

"All those who went for dharna carried sticks, acid bottles. They wanted regime change like in Bangladesh and Nepal. They have scant regard for the Constitution," Raju told the bench.

Raju said large-scale rioting occurred after the street CCTVs were destroyed.

"A police constable was killed and other police personnel were injured in the attack following a large-scale mobilisation. In the ensuing riots, an Intelligence Bureau officer was killed," he said.

The bench will now hear the matter on November 24.

When intellectuals become terrorists, they become more dangerous than those working on the ground, the Delhi Police had argued on Thursday as it vehemently opposed the bail pleas of activists Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and others in the February 2020 riots case.

It had become a trend now for doctors and engineers to engage in anti-national activities, the Delhi Police said.

Pointing out that Imam is an engineering graduate, the ASG had said, "Nowadays, there is a trend that doctors, engineers are not doing their professions but engaging in anti-national activities."  Khalid, Imam, Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider and Rehman were booked under the UAPA, the stringent anti-terror law and provisions of the erstwhile IPC for allegedly being the "masterminds" of the 2020 riots, which left 53 people dead and over 700 injured.

The violence erupted during widespread protests against the CAA and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Strongly opposing the bail pleas of the activists, the Delhi Police on Tuesday had argued that it was not something spontaneous but an "orchestrated, pre-planned, and well-designed" attack on the sovereignty of the nation.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Delhi Police, had told the bench that there was an attempt to divide the society on communal lines and it was not merely an agitation against the CAA.