HC to dispose of plea seeking release ofDr Kafeel on Aug 24

Prayagraj: The Allahabad

high court

on Wednesday adjourned till August 24 the hearing of the petition challenging the detention of Dr Kafeel Khan under NSA and also allowed his counsel to file a reply in response to the state government’s affidavit. The high court added that the petition would be disposed of on August 24.

Hearing a habeas corpus writ petition filed by Dr Kafeel’s mother Nuzhat Parween seeking his release, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Samit Gopal fixed August 24 as the next date in the matter.

Dr Kafeel was booked under NSA by the Aligarh district magistrate on February 13, 2020, for allegedly making an inflammatory speech on the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) campus during the protests there over the Citizenship Amendment Act (NSA). Subsequently, Dr Kafeel’s detention under NSA was extended on May 13 by DM Aligarh for a further period of three months, i.e., till August 12. The detention under NSA was extended as according to the district administration, there was apprehension his release may lead to law and order problems. On August 4, NSA was again extended up to November 13. NSA allows preventive detention for up to a year. On the last date, the court had directed the Centre as well as the state government to file a reply in the present case seeking release of Dr Kafeel.

According to the habeas corpus petition, earlier at one stage Dr Kafeel was granted bail by a competent court and was supposed to be released on bail. However, he was not released for four days and later the NSA was imposed on him. Hence, his detention was illegal as it was passed to nullify the effect of the bail granted by a competent court.

The plea also challenged detention of Dr Kafeel for 4 days before imposing NSA, even after he had secured bail in all cases registered against him. According to case file, Dr Kafeel has been behind bars since January 29, 2020 after speech which he had allegedly delivered at AMU on December 10 during the anti-CAA protests. The speech was deemed ‘provocative’ by the state government, which booked him under NSA. Dr Kafeel came to limelight after 2017 oxygen tragedy at BRD Medical College in which several kids had died for lack of oxygen cylinders. While initially he was hailed as a saviour of children for arranging emergency oxygen cylinders, he later faced action.