Delhi Police Opposes Delhi Riots Accused Gulfisha Fatima's Plea For Release

The Delhi Police on Wednesday opposed a habeas corpus plea by student activist Gulfisha Fatima seeking release in an Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) case, relating to the alleged larger conspiracy that led to the North-East Delhi riots in February last year.

Accused in a case related to communal violence, Fatima was arrested in the case on April 11 and is currently under judicial custody. She has claimed that her detention in judicial custody is "illegal and invalid."

Opposing the plea, the police have argued that the habeas corpus petition filed by Fatima is not only not maintainable, but it is a "blatant abuse of the process of law and deserves to be dismissed with cost."

A vacation bench of Justices Rekha Palli and Amit Bansal hearing the case has directed Fatima's counsel to file their rejoinder to the state's response and listed the matter for further hearing on Jun 18.

Filed by Additional Standing Counsel Amit Mahajan and Adv. Rajat Nair, the reply also terms the plea "false, frivolous and vexatious."

"The petition has been filed on baseless, concocted, motivated and absurd facts and circumstances of the case. There is no cause of action in the present matter. The petition is absolutely misconceived, unmerited and being devoid of merits of the case," it said.

Replying to the allegation by Fatima that the detention is illegal and invalid, the police reply states that the chargesheet was filed in the case on Sep 16 last year in the trial court and cognizance was taken on it the next day.

Fatima was only put in judicial custody pursuant to the trial court's order, the reply said, therefore, her detention in judicial custody "is legal and valid."

It has also been pointed out that while on one hand Fatima is contending that the detention is illegal, on the other hand, she has made a prayer for her release on personal bond and conditions for securing her attendance.

The reply submitted that if any illusion of a cause of action was created in the case while none really existed, it should have been nipped in the bud at the first hearing itself.

It has also been stated by the State that

Fatima has raised the same grounds which the High Court has already previously adjudicated upon in a habeas corpus petition filed by her brother. The grounds being the same, the police argued that the petition is barred by principles res judicata,

constructive res judicata and issue estopple, apart from being conceived with an attempt to mislead the Court.

They argued that Fatima cannot be permitted to seek review or challenge the earlier judgment of the Court by filing a subsequent habeas corpus petition. Further, she "cannot be permitted to raise the same ground(s) again and again."

Communal clashes had broken out in North-East Delhi on Feb 24 last year, after violence between the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) protesters and supporters spiralled out of control.

Besides her, other accused in the case are Umar Khalid, Ishrat Jahan, Tahir Hussain, Meeran Haider, Natasha Narwal, Devangana Kalita, Asif Iqbal Tanha, and Shifa Ur Rehman. All these accused are in judicial custody.