New Delhi, Apr 16 (PTI) Meeran Haider, accused in the February 2020 riots case under the anti-terror law, on Wednesday argued in the Delhi High Court that he neither attended any meetings nor was he a member of the chat group where the alleged conspiracy to incite violence was discussed.

Appearing before a bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Shalinder Kaur, Haider’s counsel said he was a “youth leader” and a student of Jamia Millia Islamia.

Haider, the counsel said, was only a part of the protests against the new citizenship law and there was no evidence to incriminate him in the case for any conspiracy to promote rioting.

“There are no messages on record. It is an admitted case that I was not part of the two meetings held in January and February. I am not part of any footage. There is no footage, no video, no photo. There is no recovery of the weapon from me,” he submitted.

Delhi Police alleged the accused in the case were not “innocent bystanders” who only organised protests but planned to cause violence using WhatsApp groups, leading to registration of 751 FIRs related to the riots.

Haider’s lawyer called it a mere speculation of the police that his client used a certain amount of money for rioting and said his role was only “peripheral”.

The counsel said his client did “not feature as a significant aspect” of the police’s “overall narrative”.

Submissions were also advanced on behalf of co-accused Shifa ur Rehman.

Rehman’s counsel denied the allegations and argued as he was in a “representative capacity” as the president of alumni association of Jamia Millia Islamia.

Rehman, the counsel said, was not present at the site of any violence and there was “not a shred of evidence”.

“Peaceful protest cannot be questioned in a democracy,” the counsel added.

Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Khalid Saifi and several others were booked under the anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and provisions of IPC for allegedly being the “masterminds” of the February 2020 riots, which left 53 people dead and over 700 injured.

Violence erupted during the protests against the CAA and NRC.

Both Haider and Rehman have challenged trial court orders refusing to grant them bail in the case.

The accused persons were arrested by the police in the UAPA case on different dates in 2020.

The bail pleas of other accused persons, including Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, are pending before the bench.

The matter would be heard in May. PTI ADS ADS AMK AMK