Delhi riots: Umar Khalid files review plea in Supreme Court against bail denial

New Delhi: Umar Khalid, an accused in the 2020 Delhi riots case, has moved the Supreme Court for a review of its January 5 order denying him bail, his lawyers said Monday. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal mentioned the review plea before a bench of Justice Aravind Kumar and also sought an open court hearing.

In its January verdict, a bench headed by Justice Kumar and comprising Justice N.V. Anjaria had held that Khalid and co accused Sharjeel Imam stood on a “higher footing in the hierarchy of participation” in the alleged larger conspiracy behind the 2020 northeast Delhi riots. The court noted that the allegations against the accused were not on equal footing and that each bail application had to be assessed individually, adding that the material on record showed Khalid and Imam’s case to be on a qualitatively different plane from that of the other accused.

While denying bail to Khalid and Imam, the bench granted conditional bail to Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, Mohammad Salim Khan and Shadab Ahmad. The court held that, given the role attributed to them, the nature of the material relied upon and the present stage of proceedings, their continued incarceration was not indispensable to a fair trial, provided strict safeguards were imposed.

Khalid and several other accused are booked under Section 15 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), which defines what constitutes a terrorist act and criminalises actions intended or likely to threaten India’s unity, integrity, security, economic security or sovereignty, or to strike terror in any section of the people.