Salman Khurshid appears on behalf of accused
By Arun Pratap Singh
Nainital, 30 Aug: The bail plea of Abdul Malik, the main accused in the case of violence in Banbhulpura (Haldwani), was heard in the Uttarakhand High Court today. The case was heard by the single bench comprising Justice Ravindra Maithani. After hearing the arguments on behalf of the state government and on behalf of the accused, the bench reserved the decision on the legal question whether the case will be heard by a single bench or a division bench.
Interestingly, Congress leader and senior advocate of the Supreme Court, Salman Khursheed argued the case on behalf of the chief accused in the violence case, Abdul Malik.
While, reserving the case, the Court observed that at present there is no question of granting bail before the court. The main issue is whether the bail plea of the accused in a case in which UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act) has been applied, does the single bench has the authority to hear the case, and whether the case will now be heard by the single bench only or a division bench. Thereafter, the court reserved the decision on this issue.
During the hearing, the counsels on behalf of the state government reminded the Court that Abdul Malik is facing criminal charges under UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act) and argued that in view of this fact, the case should be heard by a division bench not a single bench. The government also argued that several cases related to the crime are already being heard by the division bench and that many hearings have taken place already.
On behalf of his client, defence lawyer Salman Khurshid, who is also a former union minister and a senior Congress leader, besides being a senior Supreme Court advocate, argued that the crime is under investigation by the regular police, so it is alright for the single bench to hear the case. In support of his arguments, Khurshid also cited certain decisions of the Supreme Court. He claimed that the division bench of the High Court needs to hear mainly the cases being investigated by the NIA and the bail rejected by the special court. However, in this case, it is not the Special Court but the Sessions Court which has rejected the bail. Also, the case is being investigated by the regular police.
On the other hand, it was argued on behalf of the state government that a case has been registered against the accused under serious sections of UAPA. Therefore, a single bench cannot hear the case.
It may be recalled that on 8 February 2024, some people attacked the police-administration team that had gone to remove encroachment from government land in Banbhulpura police station area of Haldwani. During this, some people also attacked the team. Later, the situation worsened so much that the miscreants also set fire to the Banbhulpura police station. It is alleged that during this time the miscreants also tried to burn alive the policemen present in the police station. In this case, the police had arrested 107 people including the main accused Abdul Malik, out of which some of the accused have managed bail.
