The Supreme Court on Friday adjourned the bail petitions of Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Meeran Haider and Gulfisha Fatima in the Delhi riots larger conspiracy case, after Justice Aravind Kumar expressed difficulty in taking up the matter as the supplementary files were received only at 2.30 in the night.
The petitions, listed before a bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N.V. Anjaria, will now be heard on September 19. The four activists are among several accused booked under FIR 59/2020, a highly controversial case registered by Delhi Police’s Special Cell under multiple provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
The adjournment followed the September 2 decision of the Delhi high court, where a division bench of Justices Naveen Chawla and Shalinder Kaur dismissed the bail appeals of nine accused, including Khalid, Imam, Haider and Fatima.
Others who faced rejection included Athar Khan, Khalid Saifi, Mohammad Saleem Khan, Shifa ur Rehman and Shadab Ahmed, all of whom had been arrested in the first nine months of 2020, with their pleas having earlier been rejected by trial courts.
On the same day, another bench of the Delhi High Court, comprising Justices Subramonium Prasad and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar, denied bail to co-accused Tasleem Ahmed. The prolonged incarceration of these activists, marked by repeated appeals, adjournments and rejections, has drawn international criticism from rights defenders who describe the process as a travesty of justice.
The Delhi police’s case, which continues to draw scrutiny, rests largely on claims of the accused being present in or participating in WhatsApp groups during the nationwide protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act. Allegations of a partisan approach in the investigation persist, keeping the case mired in controversy.