Delhi Riots Case: SC Denies Bail To Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam

New Delhi, Jan 5: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to grant bail to activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) case linked to the 2020 north-east Delhi riots, holding that a prima facie case is made out against them under the anti-terror law.

A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria, however, granted bail to activists Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, Mohd. Saleem Khan and Shadab Ahmad in the same case, observing that each accused must be assessed on an individual footing.

“This court is satisfied that the prosecution material discloses a prima facie allegation against the appellants Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam. The statutory threshold stands attracted qua these appellants. At this stage, their enlargement on bail is not justified,” the bench said, adding that Khalid and Imam stand on a different footing from the other accused.

The court noted that bail adjudication requires an assessment of the role attributed to each accused and whether continued detention serves a legitimate purpose without dismantling the prosecution’s case. “Differentiation is a constitutional discipline imposed,” the bench observed.

The top court had reserved its verdict on December 10 after hearing arguments from Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Additional Solicitor General S V Raju for the Delhi Police, and senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Singhvi, Siddhartha Dave, Salman Khurshid and Sidharth Luthra for the accused.

Opposing the bail pleas, Delhi Police argued that the February 2020 violence was not spontaneous but an “orchestrated, pre-planned and well-designed” attack on India’s sovereignty.

Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and other accused were booked under the UAPA and provisions of the erstwhile IPC for allegedly being “masterminds” of the 2020 riots, which claimed 53 lives and left over 700 injured in north-east Delhi. The violence had erupted amid protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC).

The accused had approached the Supreme Court challenging a Delhi High Court order dated September 2 that denied them bail in the alleged “larger conspiracy” case related to the riots. (Agencies)