Kafeel Khan, the Uttar Pradesh doctor jailed under the National Security Act (NSA) for an alleged speech against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), was freed from a jail in Mathura at midnight on Wednesday after the Allahabad High Court on Tuesday called his detention illegal and ordered the government to free him immediately.
The doctor’s speech did not show any effort to promote hate or violence, the Allahabad High Court had said.
Kafeel was lodged in Mathura jail for nearly seven and a half months under the National Security Act on charges of making inflammatory speeches in Aligarh against the amended citizenship law (CAA) last year.
The bench comprising Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Saumitra Dayal Singh said the Aligarh district magistrate, who passed the order for Khan’s detention, did a selective reading of his speech, ignoring its true intent. Khan’s lawyer Irfan Ghazi told PTI Mathura jail administration informed at around 11.00 pm that Dr Kafeel will be released, and at around midnight, he was released.
The high court allowed the writ petition filed by Khan’s mother Nuzhat Parveen and said the detention order by the district magistrate was illegal.