The Allahabad High Court has asked the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh government to file their replies in a case seeking the release of the paediatrician, who is detained under the National Security Act (NSA) for allegedly giving a provocative speech during anti-CAA protests.

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A bench of two justices passed the order on August 5 in a petition filed by the mother of the doctor, seeking her son's release. The court fixed August 19 as the next date of hearing in the case. According to the petitioner, the doctor was granted bail by a competent court. However, he was not released for four days and subsequently, the NSA was slapped on him. Hence, his detention is illegal.

The plea has challenged the doctor's detention for four days even after he secured bail in all the cases registered against him. The doctor has been in jail since January 29 after a speech he delivered at the Aligarh Muslim University on December 10, 2019, during the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) protests. The speech was deemed "provocative" by the BJP-led government in Uttar Pradesh, which booked Khan under the NSA.

He hit the headlines after the 2017 tragedy at Gorakhpur's Baba Raghav Das (BRD) Medical College, in which several kids died due to a lack of oxygen cylinders. Initially, he was hailed as a saviour for the children for arranging emergency oxygen cylinders but later, faced action, along with nine other doctors and staff members of the hospital, all of whom were released on bail later.