Delhi HC Grants Interim Protection to Activist Nadeem Khan, Directs Cooperation in Investigation

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday provided interim relief from arrest to Social rights activist Nadeem Khan, who had been charged by the Delhi Police with promoting enmity and criminal conspiracy. The charges stem from a video that went viral on social media, which allegedly contained content that incited communal disharmony.
The Bench of Justice Jasmeet Singh ordered that Nadeem Khan, National Secretary of the Association for the Protection of Civil Rights (APCR), be granted protection from arrest until Friday. The judge while passing directions stated that the nation's harmony is not as fragile as to be easily disrupted by individual actions.
The court also instructed Khan to appear for questioning tomorrow and fully cooperate with the ongoing investigation. Additionally, Khan was directed not to leave Delhi without the permission of the Investigating Officer.
The court issued a notice in response to petitions filed by Khan and the APCR, seeking the quashing of the FIR registered by the Delhi Police.
The Delhi Police have filed an FIR against human rights activist Nadeem Khan, accusing him of promoting enmity and criminal conspiracy following the upload of a video on social media. The police allege that the video, which they claim stirred unrest among local communities, led to the registration of the case. Khan, who has served as the National Secretary of the Association for the Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) since 2020, is named in the complaint.
According to the FIR, the 2.5-minute video features an individual at an exhibition stall, gesturing toward a banner and discussing figures like Nadeem Khan, Akhlaq, Rohit Vemula, Pehlu Khan, and the 2020 CAA/NRC protests, as well as the Delhi riots. The video reportedly portrays a specific community as victims, which the police assert is an attempt to incite communal tensions.
The video also includes images of several politicians and media figures displayed on multiple boards, accusing them of spreading hatred. The individual in the video allegedly links these images to various incidents across India, again framing a particular community as victims and fostering discord in an effort to disturb national communal harmony, the FIR notes.