PDP MLA Waheed Para has sought same treatment for other Kashmiris held in UAPA cases
New Delhi: A Delhi court has permitted the Delhi Police to withdraw a 2019 sedition case against former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student leader Shehla Rashid over her controversial social media posts on the Indian Army.
Chief Judicial Magistrate Anuj Kumar of Patiala House Court granted the approval on February 27, following an application filed by the Delhi Police Special Cell.
The request, submitted by the assistant public prosecutor on February 15 under Section 321 of the erstwhile Code of Criminal Procedure, cited the recommendation of a screening committee. The committee’s findings, approved by the Delhi lieutenant governor (LG) on December 23, 2023, supported withdrawing the prosecution.
Rashid had, on August 18, 2019, posted a series of allegations against the Indian Army, accusing it of entering homes in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5 that year.
The army denied the claims as baseless. At the time, the Delhi LG stated that her remarks were intended to create religious divisions in the region.
The Delhi Police registered a case against Rashid in September 2019 under sections related to sedition and promoting enmity between communities, based on a complaint by Supreme Court advocate Alakh Alok Shrivastava.
In 2023, LG VK Saxena had approved prosecution, following recommendations from the Delhi Police and the home department, which deemed the allegations against the Army serious enough to warrant legal action.
Reacting to the court’s decision, Pulwama MLA and PDP leader welcomed the move but urged a similar approach for all young individuals, particularly Kashmiris facing the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), which he described as a law that turns legal proceedings into punishment.
