A heated political debate has resurfaced over the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) following the Supreme Court’s refusal to grant bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in a case linked to the February 2020 Delhi riots. AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has directly criticised the Congress, accusing the party of laying the legal foundations that allow prolonged detention without trial.
Speaking at a public event, Owaisi highlighted amendments introduced to the UAPA during the UPA government under then-Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram. These changes, he said, widened the definition of terrorism and introduced provisions that are now being used to keep undertrials in jail for years.
“The Supreme Court did not grant bail to two undertrial accused, and it explained why,” Owaisi said. “During the UPA government, the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act was amended, including a broader definition of what constitutes terrorism.”
Owaisi recalled his opposition to the amendments in Parliament over a decade ago, warning that parts of the law were vague, subjective, and prone to misuse. He cited Section 15(a), which criminalises acts “by any other means of whatever nature… likely to cause” harm, saying such wording could be used arbitrarily. “I had said then that this could be misused. Today, the same provision is being used to deny bail to Khalid and Imam, who have been in jail for over five years,” he added.
He also questioned whether the Congress had ever faced the consequences of laws it enacted. “The people who made the law were from the Congress, with Chidambaram as Home Minister. Has any Congress leader ever been imprisoned for even a year, let alone five and a half years?”
Owaisi further flagged Section 43D of the UAPA, which allows detention of up to 180 days without filing a chargesheet, alleging that it disproportionately affects minorities. “I had said then, and I say now, that in 100 per cent of cases where minorities are arrested, they remain in detention for 180 days without a chargesheet. The ground reality is very different from the hope of fairness,” he stated.
The Supreme Court’s order granted bail to several other accused in the Delhi riots case, including Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, Mohd Saleem Khan, and Shadab Ahmad, highlighting the selective application of stringent UAPA provisions. Owaisi insisted that the roots of these laws lie in decisions taken by the Congress-led government years ago, and their consequences are now playing out in courtrooms across India.
