In a huge relief to Uttar Pradesh doctor Kafeel Khan, who was charged under National Security Act (NSA) for anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act speech, the Allahabad High Court has ordered his immediate release on Tuesday, September 1.
The High Court said that the detention of the Uttar Pradesh doctor under the stringent provisions of the NSA for a speech against the CAA is "illegal".
Dr Kafeel Khan was charged under NSA and arrested on January 29 for delivering the speech at Aligarh Muslim University on December 10, 2019.
The Gorakhpur doctor was brought to Aligarh, from where he was shifted to the district jail in neighbouring Mathura following his arrest in Mumbai.
Under the stringent NSA, one can be detained without a charge for up to a year if authorities are satisfied that they are a threat to the national security or law and order in the country.
Earlier on August 16, the Uttar Pradesh government had extended the detention of physician Kafeel Khan by three months. It was for the second time that his detention under the NSA was extended.
Dr Kafeel Khan had hit the headlines for the first time three years back in 2017 following the deaths of more than 60 children due to lack of oxygen cylinders at Gorakhpur's Baba Raghav Das (BRD) Medical College, where he worked as a pediatrician.
In September 2019, a UP government report cleared him of all major accusations.
