Allahabad HC Orders Immediate Release Of Dr Kafeel Khan, Revokes NSA Charges Over CAA Speech

The bench, comprising Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Saumitra Dayal Singh, passed the order on a petition filed by Khan's mother Nuzhat Parveen.

Doctor Kafeel Khan (File Photo/ PTI)

New Delhi: The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday dismissed charges filed against Dr. Kafeel Khan under the National Security Act (NSA) and ordered his immediate release. Khan has been lodged at the Mathura jail in Uttar Pradesh since January 29, 2020. The bench, comprising Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Saumitra Dayal Singh, passed the order on a petition filed by Khan's mother Nuzhat Parveen, who sought for his release on grounds that he had been detained illegally. The petition alleged that Khan was granted bail in February by a competent court and he was supposed to be released on bail. However, he was not released for four days and the NSA was subsequently invoked against him. Hence, his detention was illegal, the petition argued. Khan has been in jail since January after a speech he delivered at the Aligarh Muslim University during the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) protests in December last year. Khan was earlier granted bail by the CJM, Aligarh. However, he was not allowed to walk free as the NSA was slapped on him by the Aligarh District Magistrate even before his release. Khan came to light after the 2017 tragedy at Gorakhpur's Baba Raghav Das (BRD) Medical College, in which several children died due to a lack of oxygen cylinders. Initially, Khan was hailed as a saviour for the children for arranging emergency oxygen cylinders, but later, he faced action, along with nine other doctors and staff members of the hospital, all of whom were released on bail later. He was also given a clean chit in the departmental inquiry, but his suspension was not revoked.