Dr Kafeel Khan was released from Mathura jail after the Allahabad high court on Tuesday quashed his detention under the National Security Act and ordered his immediate release, saying his speech at the Aligarh Muslim Universit didn’t promote hatred or violence and gave a call for national integrity.
IMAGE: Dr Kafeel Khan with UP Congress leaders. Photograph: UP Congress/Twitter
The bench comprising Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Saumitra Dayal Singh said the Aligarh district magistrate, who passed the order for Khan’s detention, did a “selective reading” of his speech, “ignoring its true intent”.
“Mathura jail administration informed at around 11.00 pm that Dr Kafeel will be released, and at around midnight, he was released,” Khan’s lawyer Irfan Ghazi told PTI.
The high court allowed the writ petition filed by Khan’s mother Nuzhat Parveen and said the detention order by the district magistrate was illegal.
The petition argued that Khan was granted bail in February by a competent court and he was supposed to be released on bail. However, he was not released for four days and the National Security Act (NSA) was subsequently invoked against him. Hence, his detention was illegal.
Khan was in jail since January after he delivered the allegedly provocative speech at the Aligarh Muslim University during the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests in December last year.
He was lodged in Mathura jail.
After releasing from the jail, Dr Kafeel said that the Uttar Pradesh government instead of doing ‘Raj Dharma’ was indulging in ‘Baal Hatth’ or childlike-stubbornness and could frame him in another case.
Khan thanked the court and said, “I will always remain thankful to all my well-wishers, who raised their voice for my release. The administration was not ready for release, but because of the prayers (duaa) of people, I have been released.”
“In Ramayana, Maharshi Valmiki had said that the Raja (king) should act for ‘Raj Dharma’. In UP the ‘Raja’ is not doing ‘Raj Dharma’ but is doing ‘Baal Hatth’ (being stubborn like a child),” Khan said.
He also said he was apprehensive that the government can frame him in any other case, and claimed that he and his family had to face many hardships as the state government was “after” him because of the oxygen issue in BRD Medical College.
Khan said he now wants to help flood-affected people in Bihar and Assam.
The bench, comprising Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Saumitra Dayal Singh, passed the order on a petition filed by Khan’s mother Nuzhat Parveen.
The petition alleged that Khan was granted bail in February by a competent court and he was supposed to be released on bail. However, he was not released for four days and the NSA was subsequently invoked against him. Hence, his detention was illegal, the petition argued.
Quashing Khan’s detention order, the court said, “A complete reading of the speech primafacie does not disclose any effort to promote hatred or violence. It also no where threatens peace and tranquility of the city of Aligarh. The address gives a call for national integrity and unity among the citizens. The speech also deprecates any kind of violence.
“It appears that the District Magistrate had selective reading and selective mention for few phrases from the speech ignoring its true intent.”
The court further said in the instant case, the “causal link is found to be missing or completely broken”.
Under the NSA, a person can be detained without a charge for up to 12 months if authorities are satisfied that he or she is a threat to national security or law and order.
Khan spent over six months in jail under the NSA.
In its order, the court said, “The writ petition for the reasons above is allowed. The order of detention dated 13th February, 2020 passed by District Magistrate, Aligarh and confirmed by the State of Uttar Pradesh is set aside. The extension of the period of detention of detenue Dr. Kafeel Khan is also declared illegal.”
“A writ in the nature of habeas corpus is hereby issued to release Dr. Kafeel Khan, the detenue, from State custody forthwith,” it said.
The Uttar Pradesh government had extended Khan’s detention under the NSA by three months twice — in May and August.
In an order dated August 4, the Home Department had said the NSA was invoked against Khan on February 13, 2020, on the orders of the Aligarh district magistrate.
After this, the matter was sent to the advisory council, which, in its report, said there were “enough reasons” to keep Khan in jail.
Kafeel Khan had hit the headlines for the first time in 2017 after the deaths of several kids due to lack of oxygen cylinders at Gorakhpur’s BRD Medical College, where he worked as a paediatrician.
Initially, he was hailed as a saviour for the children for arranging emergency oxygen cylinders. However, later, he faced action along with nine other doctors and staff members of the hospital, all of whom were released on bail.
A state government probe had cleared Khan of all major charges, prompting him to seek an apology from the Yogi Adityanath government.
The doctor had alleged that an institutional failure had led to the deaths of the children.
He subsequently faced threats, cases and even his family members were attacked, which the doctor dubbed as political vendetta on the part of the state government.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi welcomed the court order.
“The Allahabad high court today ordered the removal of NSA and immediate release of Dr. Kafeel Khan. It is expected that the UP government will release Dr. Kafeel Khan without any malice,” she said in a tweet in Hindi.
