Delhi Police opposes Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam’s fresh bail pleas in 2020 riots case
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New Delhi: The Delhi Police has opposed fresh bail applications moved by activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in the larger conspiracy case linked to the 2020 North East Delhi violence, telling the Delhi High Court that the petitions are not maintainable and seek to mislead the court.
In its response, the police contended that the two accused were attempting to portray a Supreme Court ruling in another case as a material change in circumstances that would justify reconsideration of their bail. It maintained that the ruling could not displace the Supreme Court’s earlier decision in their own case.
The police also reiterated its allegation that Khalid and Imam were among the “masterminds” behind the violence, a charge contested by the accused. The case invokes provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, the Arms Act and the Indian Penal Code.
Khalid and Imam were arrested in 2020 in connection with allegations of a wider conspiracy behind the communal violence in North East Delhi in February that year. The clashes had left 53 people dead and several others injured. Despite the passage of nearly six years since their arrests, the trial has not begun.
This is the third attempt by the two activists to secure bail. Their earlier applications were rejected, including by the Supreme Court.
On January 5, the Supreme Court granted bail to five co-accused — Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa-ur-Rehman, Shadab Ahmed and Muhammad Saleem Khan — but declined relief to Khalid and Imam.
The apex court had said that Khalid and Imam could renew their bail pleas after the examination of protected witnesses or after one year, whichever came first. It had also observed that delay in a trial under the UAPA cannot automatically override the statutory restrictions governing bail.
The Delhi Police has argued that the conditions set by the Supreme Court have not yet been fulfilled. It cited the January order to contend that the “risk profiles” of Khalid and Imam were markedly different from those of the co-accused who were granted bail.
The activists have relied on a Supreme Court ruling delivered in May, in which Justices B.V. Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan underscored that bail should remain the norm and imprisonment the exception, including in cases registered under the UAPA.
However, the police told the High Court that the May ruling, delivered by a coordinate bench in a separate matter, could not override the directions issued by the Supreme Court while refusing bail to Khalid and Imam.
