Delhi riots: Umar Khalid alleges before court his custody extended “illegally”

Former JNU student leader Umar Khalid alleged before a court on Monday that his custody in a case related to the northeast Delhi riots in February was extended illegally, mechanically and without prior intimation to his lawyers.

The submission was made before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Dinesh Kumar through video conferencing in the case related to rioting in Khajuri Khas area.

Khalid was arrested in the case on October 1 and is in judicial custody. He was earlier arrested in September in a separate case related to larger conspiracy in the riots which erupted between anti-CAA protesters and those supporting the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, killing over 50 people and scores injured.

Advocate Sanya Kumar, appearing for Khalid, alleged that since the beginning of his arrest in the case, his lawyers were not given copies of the remand applications and denied information about when and before which judge he would be produced.

Time and time again the remand was mechanically granted. Case diaries were not signed, we were not supplied a copy of the remand application, she claimed.

The court has put up the matter for further hearing on November 27.

The application, moved by advocates Trideep Pais and Kumar, sought directions to the investigating agency as well as the jail authorities to provide a copy of the application seeking remand/extension of remand to Khalid's counsels in advance to the proceedings.

It also sought directions to the police to intimate the counsels about the time, place and manner of all future remand proceedings for Khalid one day in advance.