The Supreme Court on Friday adjourned to September 22 the hearing on the bail pleas of activists Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Gulfisha Fatima and Meeran Haider in the UAPA case linked to the alleged conspiracy behind the February 2020 Delhi riots, and a bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and Manmohan deferred the pleas.
The activists challenged the September 2 order of the Delhi High Court that denied bail to nine accused, including Khalid and Imam, and the court held that “conspiratorial” violence under the guise of demonstrations could not be permitted, and therefore bail could not be granted.
Along with Khalid and Imam, those who faced rejection of bail were Fatima, Haider, Mohd Saleem Khan, Shifa Ur Rehman, Athar Khan, Abdul Khalid Saifi and Shadab Ahmed, and the bail plea of another accused, Tasleem Ahmed, was also dismissed by a separate high court bench on the same day.
The high court observed that the Constitution protects the right of citizens to protest and carry out demonstrations provided they are peaceful, orderly and without arms, and while it noted that Article 19(1)(a) ensures the right to participate in public meetings and make speeches, it ruled that this right is not absolute and must be subject to reasonable restrictions.
Khalid, Imam and the others were charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and sections of the erstwhile Indian Penal Code as alleged “masterminds” of the February 2020 riots, and the violence, which broke out during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Citizens, resulted in the death of 53 people and injuries to more than 700.
The accused have denied all charges and remained in custody since 2020, and they moved the high court after their bail pleas were turned down by the trial court.