Delhi riots a regime change plot, police tell court

Alleging a “regime change operation” under the guise of a “peaceful protest”, the Delhi Police on Thursday opposed the bail pleas of activists Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and four others arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) 1967 in the larger conspiracy case linked to the 2020 north-east Delhi riots.

In a voluminous affidavit filed on the eve of hearing on the bail pleas of Khalid, Imam, Meeran Haider, Gulfisha Fatima, Shifa Ur Rehman and Md Saleem Khan, the police alleged that the accused conspired to strike at the sovereignty and integrity of the country by a “regime change operation” executed under the guise of a “peaceful protest”.

The alleged offences involved a deliberate attempt to destabilise the state which warrant “jail and not bail”, the police said, asserting they had collected ocular, documentary and technical evidence against the accused showing their intrinsic, deep-rooted and fervent complicity in engineering nationwide riots on communal lines.

The criminal conspiracy for the riots was hatched for achieving the final regime change goal, the police alleged. It was a premeditated conspiracy to coincide with the then US President Donald Trump’s visit to India, to attract international media attention and portray the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) as a pogrom against the Muslim community.

A Bench of Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice NV Anjaria, which had on October 27 asked Additional Solicitor General SV Raju to consider if bail could be granted on the ground of delay, will take up the matter on Friday.

However, the Delhi Police said no ground for bail had been made by the petitioners. Accusing them of deliberately delaying the trial, the police said they were playing the “victim card” to seek their release on the grounds of prolonged incarceration. In the present case, “bail can’t be granted in view of the extreme severe gravity of the offence”, the affidavit submitted.

“It doesn’t lie with the petitioners who for mala fide and mischievous reasons have delayed the commencement of the trial to come and play victim card and seek bail on the ground of prolonged incarceration.

“The conspiracy hatched, nurtured and executed by the petitioner was to strike at the very heart of the sovereignty and integrity of the country by destroying the communal harmony, instigating the crowd not only to abrogate public order but to instigate them to an extent of armed rebellion,” the affidavit stated.

The issue of CAA was carefully chosen to serve as a “radicalising catalyst” camouflaged in the name of a peaceful protest,” it said.

The police said the “overarching argument” of the accused that there were more than 900 witnesses in the matter and hence, there was no likelihood of trial being concluded in the present case was ex-facie misleading.

“In the reasonable estimate of the respondent, there are only 100-150 witnesses which are material to prove the offence. Remaining are repetitive or technical witnesses whose examination can be completed in a very short period of time,” it said.

The accused have challenged the Delhi High Court’s September 2 order that denied them bail, noting that “conspiratorial” violence under the garb of demonstrations or protests by citizens couldn't be allowed. They are facing charges of criminal conspiracy, sedition, promoting enmity between various groups, making statements conducing to public mischief under the IPC and Section 13 of the UAPA, 1967, for allegedly questioning the sovereignty, unity, or territorial integrity of India and causing disaffection against it.

Besides the UAPA, the accused were also booked under certain provisions of the Indian Penal Code for allegedly being the “masterminds” of the "larger conspiracy" behind the February 2020 Delhi riots during the visit of the then US President Donald Trump that claimed 53 lives and left more than 700 injured. The violence had erupted during the protests against CAA and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).