The Delhi High Court will on January 7 hear bail pleas of student activists Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and other accused in the UAPA case related to February, 2020 violence. Justices Navin Chawla and Shalinder Kaur are scheduled to hear the cases. Delhi Police is likely to commence its submissions in the cases.
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NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court is set to hear the bail pleas of student activists Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, and others on January 7 in a case related to the February 2020 violence.
The case involves charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Justices Navin Chawla and Shalinder Kaur are expected to preside over the hearings. The Delhi Police is likely to present its arguments during the proceedings.
Khalid, Imam, and other accused individuals were charged with being the “masterminds” behind the February 2020 riots. These riots, which erupted during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), resulted in 53 deaths and left over 700 people injured.
The accused have sought bail from the court, citing reasons such as their prolonged time in custody and the principle of parity, as some co-accused in similar cases have already been granted bail. Among those seeking bail are activists like Gulfisha Fatima and Khalid Saifi, who, like Imam, filed their bail applications back in 2022. Different benches of the court have heard these applications over time.
Umar Khalid had previously approached the High Court for bail last year. This was his second attempt after a similar plea was rejected by the court in October 2022.
On December 20, 2024, the court postponed the hearing to January 7, following a request from the Delhi Police’s counsel. It was noted that the prosecution’s case would be argued by Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju.
All the accused were arrested by Delhi Police on different dates following the February 2020 violence.
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On 20th Dec the bench, consisting of Justices Navin Chawla and Shalinder Kaur, deferred the hearing due to the unavailability of additional solicitor general S V Raju, who was absent on Friday. The court expressed concern about adjourning bail matters, noting that similar cases had been heard previously, resulting in releases.
Khalid Saifi’s counsel argued against further delays, emphasizing that Saifi has been in custody for nearly five years. Khalid, Imam, and several others face charges under UAPA and the IPC for allegedly being the “masterminds” behind the riots, which led to 53 deaths and over 700 injuries during protests against the CAA and NRC.
They are seeking bail based on their long period of imprisonment and the fact that other co-accused have been granted bail. Most bail petitions were filed in 2022 and heard by various benches. Umar Khalid is now seeking bail for the second time after his previous plea was rejected in October 2022.
In February 2020, the Delhi Police charged activist and former Jawaharlal Nehru University student Umar Khalid with inciting the 2020 Delhi Riots during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019. Khalid faced charges under Section 425 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) for vandalism, as well as Sections 435 (arson), 147 and 148 (rioting), 302 (murder), 124A (sedition), and 149 (unlawful assembly). He was also charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, and the Arms Act, 1959.
For his speeches at Jamia Millia Islamia University (Delhi) and Aligarh Muslim University (Uttar Pradesh) in January 2020, Sharjeel Imam faced charges under various sections of the IPC, including Section 124A (sedition), Section 121 (waging war against the Government), and Section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups based on religion). He was also charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
In March and April 2022, the Sessions Court in Delhi denied bail to Khalid and Imam. They appealed these decisions at the Delhi High Court, which agreed to hear both appeals together on April 29th.
On May 6th, Advocate Tanveer Ahmed Mir, representing Sharjeel Imam, stated that FIRs had been lodged in Delhi regarding Imam’s two speeches at Aligarh and Jamia. Separate FIRs were filed against him in Uttar Pradesh for his speech at Aligarh Muslim University. The Allahabad High Court granted him bail in the Uttar Pradesh case, ruling that his speech did not incite violence.
Justice Siddharth Mridul asked Mr. Mir to present the FIR related to Imam’s speech in Aligarh. However, Mr. Mir admitted that the FIR was not on record.
The Bench granted Mr. Mir time to submit the FIR and chargesheet filed against Imam in Aligarh. It was decided that Imam’s bail application for the Delhi cases would be heard on May 26th, while Khalid’s bail application for the Delhi Riots conspiracy case was scheduled for May 19th and 20th, and Imam’s application for the same case on May 23rd.
Click Here to Read Previous Reports on Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam
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