UMAR KHALID SPENDING 1000 DAYS IN JAIL WITH SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON SECTION 124A & UAPA TRACKING PERSPECTIVES

Abstract

Umar Khalid has become a household name since 2016 when he alongside five other JNU students were levelled with sedition laws. Ever since he has become an iridescent stone of India’s vibrant political spectrum. Umar Khalid was arrested on 13th of September 2020 for allegedly being the “key conspirators” of the riots that took place in Delhi during the then US president, Mr. Donald trump’s visit. i So far, he has spent more than 1000 days (about 2 and a half years) in jail, and got his bail rejected multiple times, while getting bail once to attend his sister’s wedding.ii Two of the many charges levelled against him are Section 124A of the IPC and UAPA. Section 124A roots back to the colonial era when in 1891 the first case of Sedition was filed as “Queen empress vs Jogendra Chandra Bose and others” against the editor, manager, printer of vernacular newspaper called Bangobasi. iii Henceforth it has been a controversial law which has kindled discourse and debate between both the public and between legal experts. It has been infamously misused to silent dissenters. And as for the UAPA, it has been an act in practice since 1967 as an aftermath of the Naxalbari attack of 1966 to protect India’s sovereignty and integrityiv. UAPA has gone through nearly half a dozen amendments in years such as 2004, 2008, 2012 and most controversially in 2019v owing to its sections such as section 25, 35, 36, 43D (5) and 45vi. These sections have led to multiple political imprisonments.