Supreme Court Adjourns Umar Khalid’s Bail Plea in Delhi Riots Conspiracy Case
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The Supreme Court has once again adjourned the hearing of the bail plea of Umar Khalid, who has been incarcerated since September 2020. Khalid, a former scholar from Jawaharlal Nehru University, is facing charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for his alleged role in the larger conspiracy behind the communal violence that erupted in Delhi in February 2020.
The bench, comprising Justices Bela Trivedi and Dipankar Dutta, was set to hear Khalid’s special leave petition, which challenges the Delhi High Court’s decision last year to deny him bail. However, the hearing was postponed due to the unavailability of Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, who represents Khalid. Sibal was engaged in another case before a constitution bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud.
Justice Trivedi expressed her reservations about the repeated adjournments, stating,
“Mr. Sibal is known to be busy. We do not wait for any particular senior counsel.”
Despite the initial hesitation, the bench eventually agreed to the adjournment, with Justice Trivedi emphasizing,
“Last opportunity,”
and directed the matter to be re-listed the following week.
This case has seen multiple adjournments since the Supreme Court issued a notice on Khalid’s plea on May 18. Notably, one of the judges, Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra, recused himself from hearing the case last month.
Khalid is among 60 individuals, including Pinjra Tod members Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal, Jamia Millia Islamia student Asif Iqbal Tanha, and student activist Gulfisha Fatima, accused in the conspiracy case related to the 2020 North-East Delhi riots. Several of these accused, including Zargar, Kalita, Narwal, Tanha, and Jahan, have already been granted bail.
The Delhi High Court, in its previous judgment, had upheld the trial court’s March 2022 decision to deny Khalid bail. The court had observed that the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA) were linked to the 2020 North-East Delhi riots through various ‘conspiratorial meetings’ from December 2019 to February 2020, some of which Khalid attended. The court also criticized Khalid for using phrases like ‘inquilabli salam’ (revolutionary salute) and ‘krantikari istiqbal’ (revolutionary welcome) in a speech, interpreting them as potential incitements to violence.
Challenging the Delhi High Court’s verdict, Khalid approached the Supreme Court. In May, a bench led by Justice Bopanna issued a notice in his plea. Earlier that month, another apex court bench had dismissed the Delhi police’s plea against a high court order granting bail to co-accused Asif Iqbal Tanha, Natasha Narwal, and Devangana Kalita.
Case Title: Umar Khalid v. State of NCT of Delhi | Special Leave Petition (Criminal) No. 6857 of 2023
