The bail petitions are listed before a Bench of Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice N V Anjaria. The same Bench will also hear the bail pleas of Gulfisha Fatima and Meeran Haider in the larger conspiracy case.
File Photo: IANS
The Supreme Court will hear on Friday – September 12 – the pleas of Sharjeel Imam and former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Umar Khalid challenging the Delhi High Court order denying them bail in the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) case alleging their involvement in a larger conspiracy behind the 2020 north-east Delhi riots.
The bail petitions are listed before a Bench of Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice N V Anjaria. The same Bench will also hear the bail pleas of Gulfisha Fatima and Meeran Haider in the larger conspiracy case.
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On September 2, the Delhi High Court refused bail to Imam, Khalid and seven others — Mohd Saleem Khan, Shifa Ur Rehman, Athar Khan, Meeran Haider, Shadab Ahmed, Abdul Khalid Saifi and Gulfisha Fatima. On the same day, a different High Court Bench had also rejected the bail plea of another accused, Tasleem Ahmed.
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Before the High Court, the Delhi Police opposed their pleas, contending that the violence was not “spontaneous” but “planned well in advance” with a “sinister motive and well-thought-out conspiracy.” The court had observed that prima facie the role of Imam and Khalid appeared “grave,” pointing to inflammatory speeches allegedly delivered by them to instigate mass mobilisation on communal lines.
Khalid has sought bail from the apex court in the larger conspiracy case under the stringent provisions of UAPA. Imam, arrested in 2020 under UAPA, was named by police as a principal conspirator in the riots case.
The violence, which erupted during protests against the then-proposed Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC), left 53 people dead and over 700 injured.
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