The Allahabad High Court on Thursday quashed all criminal proceedings against Gorakhpur doctor Kafeel Khan in connection with a speech he ...
The Allahabad High Court on Thursday quashed all criminal proceedings against Gorakhpur doctor Kafeel Khan in connection with a speech he delivered during a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act at the Aligarh Muslim University in December 2019, Live Law reported.
In a first information report on the matter, Khan was charged with offences under Sections 153A (promoting enmity between religions), 153B (imputations prejudicial to national integration) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code.
In March 2020, a magistrate court in Aligarh had taken cognisance of the chargesheet filed against him. Khan then moved a plea in the Allahabad High Court under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code seeking directions to quash the criminal proceedings and the cognisance order.Section 482 of the CrPC gives power to High Courts to prevent abuse of justice by lower courts.
In his plea, Khan had cited Section 196 of the CrPC which mandates prior sanction of prosecution by the central government, state government or the concerned district magistrate before a court can take cognisance of certain offences. The charges against Khan fell under this category and he had argued that the required sanction had not been taken in his case.
On Thursday, a single-judge bench of Justice Gautam Chaudhary of the Allahabad High Court agreed with...
