Sharjeel Imam moves Supreme Court against bail denial in Delhi riots conspiracy case

Sharjeel Imam on Saturday moved the Supreme Court challenging the Delhi High Court order that denied him bail in a case registered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) over the alleged larger conspiracy behind the 2020 northeast Delhi riots.

On September 2, the Delhi High Court had refused bail to Imam and eight others — Umar Khalid, Mohd Saleem Khan, Shifa Ur Rehman, Athar Khan, Meeran Haider, Shadab Ahmed, Abdul Khalid Saifi, and Gulfisha Fatima.

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While rejecting their pleas, the court observed that the roles of Imam and Khalid in the conspiracy appeared “grave,” pointing to speeches made by them on communal lines to “instigate mass mobilisation of members of the Muslim community.”

The Delhi Police, opposing the bail pleas, argued that the riots were not spontaneous but the result of a conspiracy “planned well in advance” with a “sinister motive and well-thought-out strategy” to foment violence.

Imam, who was arrested in 2020, is accused of being one of the key conspirators behind the riots that erupted during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). The violence, which engulfed parts of northeast Delhi in February 2020, claimed 53 lives and left over 700 injured.

In its order, the High Court also noted the gravity of the charges under the stringent provisions of the UAPA, which makes the grant of bail difficult where a prima facie case is established.

Imam has now approached the apex court seeking relief, contending that he has been in custody for nearly five years and that his continued incarceration without trial amounts to a violation of his fundamental rights.

The case, described as the “larger conspiracy” behind the riots, remains one of the most significant prosecutions under the UAPA, with several activists and student leaders facing trial on allegations of orchestrating the unrest that coincided with anti-CAA protests.