The Delhi High Court on Friday called for the digital records of the trial court proceedings in a plea challenging the bail granted to former Congress councillor Ishrat Jahan in a terror case linked to the February 2020 Delhi riots.
A division bench comprising Justices Navin Chawla and Shalinder Kaur directed, “Let the TCR (trial court record) be called for in digital form,” and posted the matter for further hearing on July 18. The plea, originally filed in 2022, seeks to overturn the trial court’s March 14, 2022 order granting Jahan bail.
Jahan is one of several individuals charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for allegedly conspiring to incite the riots, which erupted during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), 2019 and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC). The violence claimed 53 lives and left over 700 injured.
Challenging the bail order, Delhi Police argued that the trial court had ignored the seriousness of the alleged offence and failed to properly assess the evidence pointing to a conspiracy involving Jahan and others. “The trial court lost sight of the fact that several people had lost their lives in these riots… their effect was not confined to a few individuals but impacted a wide spectrum of public,” the appeal stated.
The police also described the alleged “disruptive chakka-jam” protest as a terrorist act, claiming it aimed to destabilize public order and generate widespread disenchantment, thereby threatening national security.
However, in its bail order, the trial court had found no prima facie evidence linking Jahan to the core conspiracy. It noted that she did not initiate the “chakka-jam”, was not part of any incriminating WhatsApp group, and was not physically present in northeast Delhi during the riots. Her presence was linked to a protest site in Khureji, far from the epicentre of the violence. The court also pointed out the absence of her name in call records, CCTV footage, or alleged conspiratorial meetings.
Besides Jahan, several other individuals — including activists Umar Khalid, Khalid Saifi, Natasha Narwal, Devangana Kalita, Safoora Zargar, former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain, and members of the Jamia Coordination Committee — have also been booked under the UAPA in connection with the case.
