Delhi court sets new date to begin hearing arguments in Delhi riots conspiracy case
Police, through special public prosecutor Amit Prasad, told the court of additional sessions judge Lalit Kumar that it would take five hours daily for at least five days to conclude its arguments.
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The court is set to hear the arguments afresh after the transfer of ASJ Sameer Bajpai, who was hearing the case earlier last month.
Prasad submitted that he would take four to five hours daily for at least five days to conclude his arguments. The court also accepted his suggestion to begin the arguments after the summer vacation so that continuity is not disturbed. The special public prosecutors and counsel for the accused said that since the chargesheet contains over 17,000 pages and it would take considerable time, the arguments should be after summer vacation for the sake of continuity.
Advocate Adit S Pujari, appearing for Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita, submitted that there is an order of Delhi High Court of Sept 2024 which has directed that the trial court will hear the arguments, but a final order is not to be passed till the disposal of the petition.
Pujari also submitted that he would argue at the end, as his two petitions are pending before Delhi High Court. Advocate Rajat Kumar, appearing for Abdul Khalid Saifi, submitted that there is a consensus that other counsel will start arguments after submission by advocate Rajiv Mohan, counsel for Tahir Hussain.
On June 2, the court sought the schedule of arguments of all prosecutors and advocates of the accused to expedite the arguments on charges. The court noted that the matter was scheduled for arguments on charges and the special public prosecutor informed the court about the prosecution and five accused persons completing their arguments on charge.
Twenty people, including activists Sharjeel Imam, Khalid Saifi, and former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Tahir Hussain, were booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and several provisions of the Indian Penal Code for allegedly being the "masterminds" of the Feb 2020 communal riots that left 53 people dead and more than 700 injured.
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