U Khalid, S Imam move SC again for bail; cite 6 yrs in jail, no trial
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New Delhi: Former Jawaharlal Nehru University scholar Umar Khalid and student activist Sharjeel Imam have moved the Supreme Court afresh for bail in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case, arguing that the prosecution is unlikely to examine protected witnesses before the one-year period fixed by the court expires on January 5, 2027. They contend that “on no fair assessment can examination of protected witnesses be expected to commence, much less to conclude, before January 5, 2027 or for a considerable period thereafter”, and that “continued detention is no longer process-oriented and becomes punitive by reason of unreasonable and unjustified delay”, Hindustan Times reported.
The petitions, filed on Wednesday, seek reconsideration of their bail pleas in light of the Supreme Court's January 5 order. The court had denied them bail while granting relief to five other accused, observing that the roles attributed to Khalid and Imam stood on a qualitatively different footing. However, it had allowed the duo to renew their applications after the examination of protected witnesses or the completion of one year from the order, whichever came first.
The two subsequently approached the Delhi High Court, which rejected their pleas on September 30. A bench of Justices Pratibha M Singh and Dinesh Bhatt held that it could not modify the Supreme Court's direction imposing the one-year restriction.
Challenging that decision, Khalid and Imam have argued that they have spent nearly six years in custody without the prosecution examining even one of the more than 900 witnesses listed in the case. Of these, 47 have been designated as protected witnesses. They maintain that the delay makes continued incarceration unjustifiable, particularly when the trial has made little progress.
The petitions also point out that the proceedings remain at the stage of arguments on framing charges. Although arguments were completed on July 13, the trial has not advanced because the trial judge is awaiting the Supreme Court's decision on a co-accused's request to inspect documents not relied upon by the prosecution. The top court reserved its judgment on that matter on September 1.
Another development cited by the petitioners is a May 18 Supreme Court ruling in an unrelated UAPA bail case. A bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan emphasised that delays in trial could justify granting bail to an accused booked under the anti-terror law. The petitioners have relied on this position while challenging the continued restriction on their liberty.
The January 5 order, delivered by a bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N.V. Anjaria, had also denied bail to Khalid and Imam while granting it to five co-accused, including Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, Mohammad Saleem Khan and Shadab Ahmed. The same bench later referred the perceived conflict between the two decisions to a larger bench while hearing bail pleas filed by Tasleem Ahmed and Abdul Khalid Saifi.
Khalid was arrested on September 13, 2020, while Imam, arrested in a separate Bihar hate-speech case in January that year, was formally arrested in the Delhi riots conspiracy case on August 25, 2020. The case involves 18 accused, with five, including the two petitioners, remaining in jail.
Delhi Police have invoked the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and other criminal provisions in connection with the violence that erupted in February 2020 amid protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act.