Conditional Liberty
The Supreme Court’s recent refusal to grant bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam does more than decide the fate of two undertrials.
The Supreme Court’s recent refusal to grant bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam does more than decide the fate of two undertrials.
Reported sloganeering at JNU has triggered strong reactions from BJP, Left and Congress leaders, turning a campus protest into a wider political debate.
The Supreme Court, while ruling against Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam's pleas, admitted the bail petitions of the other five accused persons in the case: Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa-ur-Rehman, Mohd Saleem Khan and Shadab Ahmed, all of whom have been in custody for more than five years.
A Bench of Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice NV Anjaria reserved the judgment, likely to be delivered on December 19 before the Court’s winter break, after the conclusion of arguments by the Delhi Police opposing the bail pleas.
The police vehemently opposed the bail pleas of activists Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, and others in the 2020 North-East Delhi riots' larger conspiracy case.
The Supreme Court will today hear Delhi Police’s submissions opposing bail for Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and others accused under UAPA in the 2020 Delhi riots ‘larger conspiracy’ case. Investigators allege a pre-planned network involving coordinated protests and strategic mobilisation.
In an affidavit, the police described the riots as a “deep-rooted, premeditated, and orchestrated conspiracy,” asserting that they were timed to coincide with the visit of the then US President Donald Trump to India.
Issuing notice to the Delhi Police, a Bench of Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice N V Anjaria posted the matter for hearing in October.
The four had moved the top court against the Delhi High Court’s September 2 order rejecting their pleas.
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.
