New Delhi, Dec 17 (UNI) The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the Allahabad High Court order of quashing the stringent National Security Act (NSA) slapped on Gorakhpur doctor Kafeel Khan and releasing him from detention.
Rejecting an appeal by the Uttar Pradesh government against the HC order, a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde and also comprising Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian stated that the court did not find any reason to interfere in the order.
“We will not interfere in the judgement. However, the observation will not impact any other proceedings,” said the bench.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing on behalf of UP government, told the court that the HC judgement takes Dr Khan away from the criminal proceedings, to which the bench stated that criminal cases can be taken on their own merits.
On September 1, 2020, the HC had asked the UP government to set free Dr Khan, who was lodged in Mathura jail on the charges of provocating the public while addressing an anti-citizenship act rally at Aligarh Muslim University.
The HC had said that it fails to find any merit of the imposition of the NSA on Dr Khan and keeping him in jail. The court also underlined that in his speech the Gorakhpur doctor has appealed for national unity. He was arrested in February 2020.
Dr Khan was one of the medical practitioners who had alleged that in the 2017 Gorakhpur B R Ambedkar hospital tragedy, the children died due to lack of oxygen supply.
