The Supreme Court on Wednesday has adjourned the hearing on the bail plea of former JNU student Umar Khalid till January 10 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 Justices Bela M Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma postponed the matter as senior advocate Kapil Sibal, for Khalid and Additional Solicitor General S V Raju were not available.
The bench stated, “Joint request is made on behalf of the appellant and the Union of India due to the non-availability of the senior advocates who are going to argue the matter. List the matter on January 10. In the meantime, pleadings be completed in the matters.”
The matter was listed along with a batch of petitions challenging various provisions of UAPA.
On August 9, the 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, had come up for hearing before a bench of Justices AS Bopanna and Mishra.
The high court 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.
The high court also stated that the actions of the accused prima facie qualified as “terrorist act” under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
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 (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens.
Khalid, arrested by the Delhi Police in September 2020, 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, saying 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.
