The Allahabad High Court on Monday instructed the Uttar Pradesh government advocate to make available the original record of the proceedings under the National Security Act, 1980, against Gorakhpur doctor Kafeel Khan who is incarcerated in a Mathura jail.
The court also granted both parties time to file additional documents and listed the matter for August 27 through video conferencing.
Having considered facts, a division bench of Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Saumitra Dayal Singh said it deemed it appropriate to peruse the original record resulting in the detention and its further extension.
Dileep Kumar, senior advocate appearing on behalf of Dr. Khan, said he had received a copy of the supplementary affidavit filed on behalf of the State government only on Sunday at about 1.30 p.m. and would require more time to file a rejoinder.
Manish Goyal, additional advocate general, also sought some time to file one more additional affidavit in relation to certain facts stated by the petitioner in a rejoinder filed earlier.
The court is hearing a habeas corpus writ petition filed on behalf of Dr. Khan by his wife Nuzhat Perween.
The Supreme Court had on August 11 requested the Allahabad High Court to decide the matter of Dr. Khan’s release as early as possible, within 15 days, saying it involved the liberty of the applicant.
The BJP government in Uttar Pradesh had in February slapped the NSA on Dr. Khan for allegedly making inflammatory and provocative comments during a speech against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act at the Aligarh Muslim University.
Dr. Khan was booked under the stringent law on the day he was expected to be released on bail from Mathura jail where he was lodged after his arrest in the case on January 29.
Dr. Khan’s family had said he was being targeted by the Yogi Adityanath-led government for his activism, as despite being granted bail by a CJM court in Aligarh on February 10, he continued to languish in jail without proper reason.
