NEW DELHI: Former Delhi University professor Syed Abdul Rahman Geelani, who was acquitted by the Supreme Court after being sentenced to death by a special court in the 2001 Parliament attack case, died here on Thursday following a cardiac arrest.
“He died on Thursday following a cardiac arrest at approximately 6 pm,” said a family member.
He is survived by his wife and two daughters.
According to sources, his body will be carried off to Srinagar by his final for the cremation ceremony.
Geelani, who was a professor at Delhi University’s Zakir Hussain College, was also charged with sedition in 2016, for allegedly organizing an event on February 10 against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.
He was accused of raising anti-India slogans at the event and cases under relevant sections of the IPC were registered against him.
Earlier, he was arrested in connection with the Parliament attack case but was acquitted for “need of evidence” by the Delhi High Court on October 2003, a decision upheld by the Supreme Court on August 2005.
Gilani’s arrest comes amid a raging controversy over the arrest of former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar as the main accused along with nine others who has been charge-sheeted in the JNU sedition case.
An attempt on his life had also been made on February 2004, when an unknown assailant had fired five bullets at him outside the house of his lawyer.