SC hears bail pleas by Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam in Delhi riots case

New Delhi: The Supreme Court is hearing the bail pleas filed by activists Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Gulfisha Fatima and three others in the larger conspiracy case in relation to the 2020 North East Delhi riots, which accuses them of hatching a larger conspiracy to cause multiple riots.

The accused in the case had moved to the apex court after the Delhi High Court denied them bail on September 2. The Supreme Court had issued notice to the police on September 22.

The riots unfolded in February 2020, following clashes over the then-proposed Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). According to the Delhi police, these riots had resulted in 53 deaths and several hundred injuries.

A Bench comprising Justices Aravind Kumar and NV Anjaria is hearing the current case.

The FIR in this case was registered by a Special Cell of the Delhi Police under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the UAPA, and most of the accused were booked in multiple FIRs. Therefore, multiple bail petitions have been filed in different courts, and most of the accused have been in custody since 2020.

Of the accused, Khalid was arrested in September 2020 under charges of criminal conspiracy, rioting, unlawful assembly, as well as several other offences under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), due to which he has been in jail since.

A trial court had first denied him bail in March 2022, and the High Court rejected his plea in October 2022. Following this, he filed an appeal before the apex court.

The Supreme Court had sought the response of the Delhi Police on the matter in May 2023. However, the hearing for Khalid's plea was then adjourned 14 times. On February 14, 2024, he withdrew his bail plea from the Supreme Court, citing a change in circumstances.

The present plea before the top court arises from the trial court's rejection of his second bail petition on May 28 and the Delhi High Court's dismissal of an appeal against the same on September 2.

Similarly, Imam too was booked in multiple FIRs across several States, mostly under sedition and UAPA charges. He was granted bail by the Delhi High Court last year in cases registered over speeches he delivered at Jamia Milia Islamia University and Aligarh Muslim University.

He was granted bail by the Allahabad High Court in 2021 and the Gauhati High Court in 2020 in the sedition cases registered in Aligarh and Guwahati, respectively. He was also booked in FIRs in Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had pulled up the Delhi Police for failing to file its response to the bail pleas. Following this, the Delhi Police submitted a 389-page affidavit detailing why the accused must be denied bail. The police claimed irrefutable documentary as well as technical evidence that pointed to a conspiracy for a "regime-change operation" and plans to incite nationwide riots on communal lines and kill non-Muslims.

(With Bar and Bench inputs)