2020 Delhi Riots: SC Adjourns Hearing On Umar Khalid’s Plea Seeking Bail

The Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned the hearing on a plea filed by former JNU student Umar Khalid for a week seeking bail in a case lodged under anti-terror law UAPA over his alleged involvement in the conspiracy behind the northeast Delhi riots of February 2020.

A bench comprising of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Dipankar Datta deferred the matter as senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Khalid, was not available.

On August 9, Supreme Court judge Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra recused himself from hearing Khalid’s plea.
Khalid’s petition challenging the October 18, 2022 order of the Delhi High Court, which rejected his bail plea in the matter, that came up for hearing before a bench of Justices AS Bopanna and Prashant Kumar Mishra.

The high court then rejected Khalid’s bail plea, stating that he was in constant touch with other co-accused and the allegations against him were prima facie true.

Also, the high court stated the actions of the accused prima facie qualified as “terrorist act” under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Activists Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, and many others have been booked under the anti-terror law UAPA and several provisions of the IPC for allegedly being the “masterminds” of the February 2020 riots, which left 53 people dead and over 700 injured.

The violence erupted during the protests against Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Citizens.
On September 2020, Khalid got arrested by the Delhi Police, and sought bail on grounds that he neither had any criminal role in the violence nor any “conspiratorial connect” with any other accused in the case.

The Delhi Police opposed Khalid’s bail plea in the high court, stating that the speech delivered by him was “very calculated” and he brought up contentious issues like Babri Masjid, triple talaq, Kashmir, the alleged suppression of Muslims and the CAA and NRC.