Former JNU student Umar Khalid.A Delhi court dismissed an application by former JNU student leader Umar Khalid, who was arrested under the stringent anti-terror law, the Unlawful (Activities) Prevention Act, seeking permission to meet his family during his police custody.
Khalid is in police custody for 10 days till September 24, in a case related to the Northeast Delhi riots.
In his application, Khalid said verbal assurance was given by police at the time of remand that he would be allowed to meet his family, but they were not being permitted to do so.
Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat dismissed the application, saying there was no merit in it.
“The counsel for the accused (Khalid) had made specific request for allowing the meeting time of accused with the counsel during police custody remand and the same was allowed for every day for 30 minutes during the entire police custody remand. Counsel for the accused is meeting the accused every day during remand in terms of the order dated September 14. There was also an apprehension of safety raised by the counsel for the accused and thus a specific direction was also given to the DCP concerned to ensure the safety of the accused… In the totality of facts and circumstance of the case, I see no merit in the application, and accordingly, the application is dismissed,” the judge said in his order passed on September 19.
During the hearing, Khalid’s counsel, Trideep Pais, told the court that since the police custody remand was extraordinarily long, he should not be deprived of meeting with his family or friends.
The application sought permission for Khalid to meet his family on at least two days for 30 minutes each.
The investigating officer, in his reply to the application, stated that as per the directions of the court, Khalid has
been allowed to meet his counsel every day. He further claimed that during his police remand, Khalid was being confronted with huge data on a regular basis and he was not cooperating.
Police said he was being thoroughly questioned daily regarding his alleged involvement in the conspiracy of riots, and allowing him to meet his family members could be a hindrance.
The probe officer also said Khalid can convey any message to his family members through his lawyer.
Pais argued that the period for meeting his family may be interchanged partially with his own meeting time.
📣 The Indian Express is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@indianexpress) and stay updated with the latest headlines
For all the latest Delhi News, download Indian Express App.