'Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam In Jail Due To Congress': Asaduddin Owaisi Explains

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has pinned the long jail stay of student activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam squarely on the Congress party.

The Supreme Court on Monday denied bail to the two activists in the "larger conspiracy" case linked to the 2020 Delhi riots.

Owaisi's attack on the Congress is linked to the law that has been used to charge the duo - the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

The chief of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) said the Congress party played a big role in strengthening the already stringent provisions of the UAPA.

When P Chidambaram was Union home minister, he introduced amendments in this law, which many years later have resulted in the prolonged incarceration of undertrial prisoners, including Khalid and Imam.

"The Supreme Court did not grant bail to two undertrial accused; it explained why it did not grant bail. During the UPA government, the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act was amended, and included a definition of what constitutes terrorism," Owaisi said.

The AIMIM chief recalled his speech in the Lok Sabha when he questioned some provisions of the UAPA and labelled them "subjective".

"I am referring to 2007 or 2008. I said in the parliament: 'kindly see section 15 (a) of the principal act that states 'by any other means of whatever nature to cause or likely to cause. This is a subjective thing, and tomorrow Arundhati Roy can be arrested for what she is writing. This is subjective, and who defines it?'" he said.

Owaisi said the basis for refusing bail to Khalid and Imam was the same he had pointed out in his Lok Sabha speech.

"Using this very basis of 'by any other means', which the Congress had legislated, and about which I had already said that it would be misused, today two young men, who are in jail for five and a half years, didn't get bail. The people who made the law were from the Congress, and the Home Minister was Chidambaram. Has any leader of the Congress ever been in jail for one year, two years, or five and a half years since independence?" he added.

Five other accused identified as Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, Mohd Saleem Khan, and Shadab Ahmad were granted bail.