Is it proper to use 'jumla' for PM: Delhi HC asks Umar Khalid
India Today
Delhi High Court asked Umar Khalid whether it was proper to use the term ‘jumla’ in respect to the Prime Minister of India.
Delhi High Court on Wednesday, while hearing the bail application of student activist Umar Khalid in the larger conspiracy case of Delhi riots, asked whether it was proper to use the term ‘jumla’ in respect to the Prime Minister of India.
Justice S Mridul, while hearing the case, noted that the speech that Khalid delivered was more like galvanising the troops which eventually led to the Delhi Riots. The court said, “You may not have to incite everyone. We may not be incited, but inciting co-conspirators will be an incitement to violence.”
READ | Umar Khalid denied bail in Delhi riots case
However, senior advocate Trideep Pais, who was appearing for Khalid pointed out that at no point in time was Khalid meaning to incite violence and that was evident in the video of the speech delivered at Amravati.
“What did he say about the Prime Minister in the speech? Some ‘changa’ word was used and after that this ‘jumla’ word was used for the Prime Minister of India. Is that proper," asked the court after listening to the speech given by Khalid at Amravati in February 2020.
“There has to be a line for criticism also. There has to be a Lakshman rekha,” the court said.
“Criticism of the government cannot become a crime. 583 days in prison with UAPA charges was no envisaged for a person who speaks against the government. We cannot become so intolerant. At this rate, people will not be able to speak,” Pais said adding that the FIR against Khalid is a result of intolerance against freedom of speech while citing Kedar Nath Singh v State of Bihar, Balwant Singh and Anr V State of Punjab and S Rangarajan v P Jagjivan Ram, arguing that mere criticism of the government cannot amount to sedition or offences under the UAPA.
