Delhi riots case: SC notice to Delhi Police on bail plea of Sharjeel Imam, Umar Khalid, others

The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the Delhi Police on the pleas of Sharjeel Imam, Umar Khalid, Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, and Shifa Ur Rehman challenging the Delhi High Court order denying them bail in the UAPA case linked to the alleged larger conspiracy behind the 2020 north-east Delhi riots.

Issuing notice to the Delhi Police, a Bench of Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice N V Anjaria posted the matter for hearing in October.

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Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the petitioners, submitted that they were students and had already spent over five years in jail. “Yes, we will hear you and dispose it of… issue notice in all,” the Bench said while ordering notice.

On September 2, the Delhi High Court had denied 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 Bench of the high court had also rejected the bail plea of another accused, Tasleem Ahmed.

The Delhi Police had opposed the bail applications contending that the riots were not spontaneous but “planned well in advance” with a “sinister motive and well-thought-out conspiracy”.

The high court, while refusing bail, had observed that prima facie, the role of Imam and Khalid was “grave” as they had delivered inflammatory speeches on communal lines to “instigate mass mobilisation of members of the Muslim community”.

The accused have now sought bail from the top court in the larger conspiracy case under the stringent provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

Imam was arrested in 2020 under the UAPA and named as a main conspirator in the riots case. The violence, which erupted during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC), had left 53 people dead and over 700 injured.