2020 riots: Delhi HC denies bail to Sharjeel Imam, Umar Khalid, 7 others

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday denied bail to former JNU students Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, and seven others facing prosecution in a UAPA case linked to the alleged conspiracy behind the February 2020 riots.

The other accused who sought relief were Mohd Saleem Khan, Shifa Ur Rehman, Athar Khan, Meeran Haider, Shadab Ahmed, Abdul Khalid Saifi and Gulfisha Fatima. They had argued that delay in framing of charges had kept them in custody for an extended period.

A Division Bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Shalinder Kaur, while pronouncing its order, said, “All appeals stand dismissed.”

Khalid, arrested in September 2020, faces charges of criminal conspiracy, rioting, and unlawful assembly, among others under UAPA. His bail was earlier denied by the trial court in March 2022, followed by the High Court in October the same year. He then moved the Supreme Court, where the matter is still pending.

In a separate order earlier in the day, another Bench of Justices Subramonium Prasad and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar dismissed the bail plea of Tasleem Ahmed, accused in a UAPA case also arising from the 2020 riots.

Ahmed’s counsel had sought de-tagging of his case, arguing he was only a protester against the Citizenship Amendment Act but was arrested on terror charges in June 2020. He cited delay in trial and his period of custody as grounds for bail. The court, however, declined to grant him relief.