Bail plea of Umar Khalid in Delhi riots case deferred by SC again
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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday deferred the hearing till February 1 the bail plea appeal made by former JNU student Umar Khalid for his alleged role in the February 2020 communal violence in the national capital.
A two-judge Apex Court bench led by Justice Bela M Trivedi and including Justice Prasanna Varale scheduled the hearing on Thursday.
The Supreme Court deferred the hearing on Khalid's bail application for the 12th time since 2023, including today.
Khalid, a social activist, has been in jail since September 14, 2020, when he was arrested by the Delhi Police for alleged involvement in the Delhi riots. He was charged under the extremely stringent UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act) for his suspected role in the Delhi Riots conspiracy. He refuted the charges, claiming innocence in the matter, the New Indian Express reported.
Khalid, the accused, had filed a petition with the Supreme Court contesting a Delhi High Court decision in October 2022 that denied him bail.
The Delhi Police arrested Khalid in September 2020 for his involvement in communal riots in the national capital. He has spent the time since then in jail.
He had initially sought bail in Delhi's High Court on the grounds that he had no "criminal role" in the violence in the city's North-East neighbourhood or any "conspiratorial connect" with any of the other suspects in the case. The Delhi Police had opposed Khalid's bail petition in the High Court.
In March 2022, he filed a petition with the High Court disputing the trial court's decision to dismiss his bail application.
Sharjeel Imam, activist Khalid Saifi, JNU students Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita, Jamia Coordination Committee members Safoora Zargar, former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain, and a number of others were also imprisoned under the case's strict laws.
According to the prosecution, the violence occurred in response to rallies against the CAA and the NRC. The protests had killed 53 individuals and injured nearly 700.
Khalid was charged in the case, along with the other accused.