New Delhi: Activist Umar Khalid, jailed under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in a case alleging a “larger conspiracy” behind the 2020 North-East Delhi violence, has sought interim bail from a Delhi court to attend his sister’s wedding.
The application is scheduled to be heard on December 11 by Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Bajpai at Karkardooma Courts, Live Law reported.
Khalid has previously been granted short-term relief on similar grounds. In December 2023, he received seven days’ interim bail to attend a family wedding, and in 2022 he was allowed a week-long interim bail for another sister’s marriage ceremony.
His regular bail pleas, however, have been repeatedly turned down. The Delhi High Court rejected his bail in October 2022, after which he approached the Supreme Court but later withdrew the special leave petition (SLP). A second regular bail plea was dismissed by the trial court, prompting another challenge before the High Court.
On September 2, a division bench of the High Court noted that Khalid’s alleged role in the conspiracy appeared “grave”, referring to accusations that his speeches were intended to “instigate mass mobilisation” along communal lines. His SLP against the latest denial of bail is still pending before the Supreme Court.
The case arises from FIR 59 of 2020, registered by the Delhi Police Special Cell under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code and UAPA. Besides Khalid, the accused include Tahir Hussain, Khalid Saifi, Ishrat Jahan, Meeran Haider, Gulfisha Fatima, Shifa-Ur-Rehman, Asif Iqbal Tanha, Shadab Ahmed, Tasleem Ahmed, Saleem Malik, Mohd. Saleem Khan, Athar Khan, Safoora Zargar, Sharjeel Imam, Faizan Khan and Natasha Narwal.
The 2020 Delhi violence left 53 people dead, 38 of them Muslims, and has been widely described as an anti-Muslim pogrom. The violence followed inflammatory speeches by BJP leaders, including Kapil Mishra, shortly before the clashes erupted. Rights groups and observers allege that instead of prosecuting those who incited and carried out the attacks, the state has targeted students and activists who peacefully protested against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), by framing them in a narrative of a “larger conspiracy” to engineer the riots.