Delhi court to hear bail plea of former DU lecturer SAR Geelani on Friday

New Delhi: A Delhi court will hear on Friday the arguments on the bail application moved by former DU lecturer SAR Geelani, arrested under sedition charges in connection with a Press Club event in New Delhi. Additional Sessions Judge Amit Bansal posted the matter for tomorrow after noting that the judge concerned was on leave on Thursday. [caption id=“attachment_2680534” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] SAR Geelani. IBNLive[/caption] Geelani, who is in judicial custody, had on Wednesday moved a fresh bail application before the the Patiala House Courts registry and was listed for on Thursday before Additional Sessions Judge Deepak Garg, who was absent. Earlier on 19 February, a magisterial court had dismissed the bail plea of Geelani, who was arrested on 16 February, after the police alleged that “hatred” was being generated against the government. Police had earlier told the court that an event was held on 10 February in which banners were placed showing Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhat as martyrs. It had also said the hall in the club was booked by Geelani through one Ali Javed by using his credit card and another person Mudassar was also involved. At the Press Club event, a group had allegedly shouted slogans hailing Afzal Guru, following which the police had lodged a case under sections 124A (sedition), 120B(criminal conspiracy) and 149 (unlawful assembly) of the IPC against Geelani and other unnamed persons. The police had claimed to have registered the FIR taking suo motu cognisance of media clips of the incident. Following registration of the FIR, the police questioned DU professor Ali Javed, a Press Club member who had booked the hall for the event, for two days. Geelani was arrested in connection with the 2001 Parliament attack case but was acquitted for “need of evidence” by Delhi High Court in October 2003, a decision upheld by the Supreme Court in August 2005. PTI