New Delhi, Sep 5 (PTI) The prosecution began its arguments on Thursday on framing of charges against the accused in connection with the alleged larger conspiracy behind the 2020 northeast Delhi riots, saying the "planned conspiracy" was given a facade of organic protest.
Twenty people, including activists Sharjeel Imam, Khalid Saifi and former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Tahir Hussain, have been booked under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and several provisions of the Indian Penal Code for allegedly being the masterminds of the February 2020 communal riots that left 53 people dead and more than 700 injured.
On Wednesday, Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Bajpai disposed of the applications filed by some accused seeking directions to the Delhi Police to disclose whether the investigation in the case has been completed and allowed the prosecution to commence its arguments.
On Thursday, Special Public Prosecutor Amit Prasad provided exhaustive arguments to buttress the point that there was a conspiracy.
"The protest was not organic but was created under a planned conspiracy and given a facade of organic protest," he said, adding that the "deep-rooted conspiracy" was hatched after a resolution was passed by the cabinet committee to present the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB) in Parliament on December 4, 2019.
The arguments, which continued for more than an hour, emphasised that the earlier orders of the court, while deciding the bail pleas of some accused such as Saifi and Imam, had evaluated the evidence and found that a conspiracy did exist in the case.
"The earlier orders fully describe the length and breadth of the conspiracy and take into account the relevance of groups, organisations and WhatsApp groups," Prasad said.
He also read out the statements of some witnesses, including protected witnesses, along with the major aspects of the chargesheet, such as the conspiratorial meetings, to highlight how the riots were engineered by completely blocking the entry and exit points to northeast Delhi.
Prasad said different protest sites were created and the conspiracy aimed at disrupting the city by holding chakka jams.
The prosecution's arguments will continue on Friday.