Allahabad HC Orders Immediate Release Of Dr Kafeel Khan Booked Under NSA For Hate Speech At Anti-CAA Protest

Allahabad High Court, in major relief for Dr Kafeel Khan who was booked in February this year under the National Security Act (NSA) over his anti-CAA speech at the Aligarh Muslim University campus, has ordered his immediate release and dropping of the charges under the NSA.

Khan has been lodged in the district jail in neighbouring Mathura since then. Under the NSA, a person can be detained without a charge for up to 12 months if he or she is considered to be a threat to the national security or law and order.

Khan was booked under IPC section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion), and later section 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) and section 505(2) (statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill will between classes) were also added to the FIR.

The court said that the speech ‘does not disclose any effort to promote hatred or violence. It also no where threatens the peace and tranquillity of the city of Aligarh’.

“It appears that the District Magistrate had a selective reading and selective mention of a few phrases from the speech ignoring its true intent,” the bench comprising of Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Saumitra Dayal Singh noted.

The full text of khan’s speech can be read here.

The Allahabad court order was issued on a habeas corpus petition filed by Khan’s mother, Nuzhat Parveen.

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