WEB DESK
Dr Kafeel Khan, the Uttar Pradesh doctor who was jailed under the National Security Act (NSA) for an alleged speech against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA, has finally benn released from Mathura jail at midnight on Wednesday.
The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday called his detention illegal and ordered the government to free him immediately. The doctor’s speech did not show any effort to promote hate or violence, the Allahabad High Court had said.
After the court verdict, when the jail authorities did not free the doctor for hours, his family had said they would file a contempt petition in the Allahabad High Court.
Dr Khan’s mother Nuzhat Parveen said she will finally be able to “see, touch and feel” her son after a long time. “I am very happy that my son is coming out of the jail. I will be able to see him, touch him and feel him after a long time,” Ms Parveen said.
“My son is a good person and he is never against the country or society. Today is my daughter-in-law’s birthday as well, and we are carrying a cake with us as she is in Mathura,” she added.
Dr Khan was charged under the NSA for his speech against the CAA at a talk at Aligarh Muslim University late last year. The doctor from UP’s Gorakhpur was arrested on January 29.
While he was first charged for allegedly promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, charges under the NSA were invoked two days after he was given bail on February 10 this year.
Dr Kafeel Khan was a lecturer and the nodal officer of the encephalitis ward in the state-run BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur. Dr Khan was greatly lauded for his efforts to save lives during the 2017 tragedy in the hospital that caused the deaths of 63 children. The deaths reportedly occurred due to a cut in the oxygen supply, with medical negligence being blamed for the deaths. Khan was arrested in August 2017 after the UP government denied that the deaths had occurred due to cutting of oxygen supply. Khan was quitted of all charges in September 2019.
WHY WAS KAFEEL KHAN IN PRISON NOW?
Khan has been in jail since January 29 after a speech he delivered at the Aligarh Muslim University on December 10, 2019 during the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) protests. Following the speech, the Uttar Pradesh government invoked NSA charges against him on February 13, 2020, by of the Aligarh District Magistrate. On August 16, his detention under NSA was extended for the second time by three months.
WHY WAS KAFEEL KHAN’S EXTENSION ILLEGAL?
Under the NSA, people can be detained without a charge for up to 12 months if authorities are satisfied that they are a threat to national security or law and order. Khan’s mother Nuzhat Parveen filed a plea in Allahabad HC seeking his release following which a bench comprising of justices Manoj Mishra and Deepak Verma passed the order asking the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh government to file their replies in a case seeking the release of Khan. In Tuesday’s hearing, the Allahabad HC observed that the Kafeel speech was not inflammatory and not sufficient for preventive detention.
WHAT DID THE COURT SAY?
The division bench of Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Saumitra Dayal Singh observed that Khan’s speech does not disclose any effort to promote hatred or unrest, as per Live Law. The court held that the speech did not harm the “peace and tranquility of Aligarh”. It further added that the address gave a “call for national integrity and unity among the citizens”.