Delhi riots chargesheet: Khurshid, Prashant Bhushan named by accused for ‘provocative speeches’

Congress leader Salman Khurshid, CPI-ML Politburo member Kavita Krishnan,student activist Kawalpreet Kaur, scientist Gauhar Raza and advocate Prashant Bhushan gets a mention in a disclosure statements of accused persons chargesheet filed by the Delhi Police last week alleging a conspiracy in the Northeast Delhi riots.

Khurshid’s name appeared in the disclosure statements of accused Khalid Saifi as well as former Congress councillor Ishrat Jahan

The 17,000-page chargesheet, filed on September 17, contains a statement from a witness saying: “Umar Khalid, Salman Khurshid, Nadeem Khan,Prashant Bhushan… they all used to give provocative speeches (at anti-CAA/NRC sit-ins in Delhi) and people used to get mobilised.”

The police have not mentioned the exact nature of the alleged provocative speeches. The identity of the witness has been concealed by the police (known as a protective witness). The police claims the witness was part of the core team of conspirators accused of plotting the riots.
The statement has been recorded before a Magistrate (under Section 164 of Code of Criminal Procedure or CrPC), giving it greater legal weight.

“If you do garbage collection, you get a lot of filth. Any garbage can be put to support statements made by individuals. I would be intrigued to know what a provocative statement is,” the 67-year-old senior Congress leader said, responding to the allegations.

Mr Khurshid is the highest ranking politician named in police chargesheets so far. The police have come under criticism for using the riots probe to target critics of the government, as well as prominent figures from the anti-CAA/NRC movement.

Northeast Delhi saw violent communal clashes on February 24 between citizenship law supporters and protesters that lead to mass violence, leaving at least 53 people dead and at least 200 injured.