Delhi riots: SC defers hearing on bail pleas of Umar, Sharjeel, Gulfisha to September 19

The Supreme Court on Friday decided to take up on September 19 bail pleas of student activists Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Gulfisha Fatima and Meeran Haider attested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967 in the larger conspiracy case linked to the 2020 North-east Delhi riots.

A Bench of Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice NV Anjaria expressed its inability to take up the matters, saying it received the files of the supplementary list of cases at 2.30 am last night.

Senior counsel Kapil Sibal, AM Singhvi, Colin Gonsalves, Siddharth Dave and others representing the petitioners agreed to the suggestion of the Bench to adjourn the hearing.

The petitioners have challenged the September 2 verdict of Bench led by Justice Naveen Chawla of the High Court, which also denied bail pleas of co-accused Mohd Saleem Khan, Shifa Ur Rehman, Athar Khan, Meeran Haider, Shadab Ahmed and Abdul Khalid Saifi. The bail plea of another co-accused, Tasleem Ahmed, was dismissed by another Delhi High Court Bench led by Justice Subramonium Prasad.

The High Court rejected their bail pleas, saying “conspiratorial” violence under the garb of demonstrations or protests by citizens couldn’t be allowed.

The accused are facing charges of criminal conspiracy, sedition, promoting enmity between various groups, making statements conducing to public mischief under the IPC and Section 13 of the UAPA, 1967, for allegedly questioning the sovereignty, unity, or territorial integrity of India and causing disaffection against it.

Besides the UAPA, the accused were also booked under certain provisions of the Indian Penal Code for allegedly being the “masterminds” of the “larger conspiracy” behind the February 2020 Delhi riots during the visit of then US President Donald Trump that claimed 53 lives and left more than 700 injured. The violence had erupted during the protests against Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Khalid was arrested in September 2020 while Fatima was arrested on April 9, 2020, and Imam was arrested on January 28, 2020, from Jehanabad in Bihar. Meeran, who was arrested in April 2020, was granted 10-day interim bail in August 2024 on humanitarian grounds. They have been in jail for more than five years.

In June 2020, accused Safoora Zargar was granted bail on account of her pregnancy while in June 2021, the High Court gave bail to three other accused—Asif Iqbal Tanha, Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal—on merits.

On September 2, 2025, the Delhi High Court turned down the bail pleas of 10 accused, including Khalid, Imam, Fatima and Haider, saying they did not deserve parity with the co-accused already released on bail.

Besides demanding parity with co-accused Kalita and Narwal, the 10 accused had also sought bail on the ground that they have been in jail for over five years and the trial was likely to take more time to conclude.

However, the High Court rejected their second argument as well. “With respect to the argument of delay and prolonged incarceration… the present case involves complex issues, and the trial is progressing at a natural pace,” it said.