Delhi Police on Wednesday visited Delhi Minorities Commission chief Zafarul Islam Khan’s residence to interrogate him in connection with a FIR lodged against him on charges of sedition.
A team led by an ACP-rank officer reached Mr. Khan’s house but had to face a public outcry as AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan and other local leaders along with their supporters gathered outside his residence.
The police team left the location and said they will serve another notice to Mr. Khan and ask him to join the probe. Mr. Khan said that he suffers from old age-related physical illnesses that make him vulnerable to COVID-19 and therefore cannot leave his house but was available to answer questions.
In a statement, Mr. Khan’s lawyer said, “Section 160 of the CrPC mandates that the police cannot compel attendance of a person above 65 years age at any place other than their residence for the purpose of investigation and interrogation.”
An FIR has been lodged against Mr. Khan under Sections 124 A (Sedition) and 153 A, based on a complaint by a south Delhi resident.
The complainant has alleged that Mr. Khan, on April 28, had shared a post on social media which was “provocative”. In the post, Mr. Khan thanked Kuwait for taking note of the persecution of Indian Muslims, in the context of the violence in north-east Delhi.
On May 3, Mr. Khan said he had not deleted his post and stood by it, “It has been erroneously reported that I have apologised for the tweet and deleted it. I apologised not for the tweet but because it was ill-timed.”