ANTI-UAPA PLEAS A FACADE TO HALT PROBES: CENTRE

Pleas against UAPA a facade to stop probes: Centre to SC

- Abraham Thomas

{RIOTS CASE AGAINST KHALID} SC ADJOURNS BAIL PLEA

The Centre on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that the petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the anti-terror law, Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), are a "facade" to stall investigations against the plaintiffs and help them secure bail.

The court was hearing a clutch of petitions, including one by student activist Umar Khalid and several others, which have contended that Section 43D of the Act places the burden of proving innocence on the accused, thus making the possibility of bail negligible.

The court also considered the bail petition by Khalid on Wednesday but adjourned it to January 31.

Khalid, a former scholar of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), was arrested by the Delhi police on September 13, 2020 in connection with the Delhi riots case of 2020. He has since been languishing in prison. He approached the top court in April last year to challenge the Delhi HC order dismissing his bail on October 18, 2022.