SC again adjourns hearing on Umar Khalid’s plea seeking bail in Delhi riots case

The Supreme Court on Thursday again adjourned the hearing on a bail plea filed by activist Umar Khalid in the 2020 Delhi riots case, in which he has been incarcerated since September 2020 under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and criminal conspiracy, Live Law reported.

Clashes had broken out in North East Delhi from February 23 to February 26, 2020, between supporters of the Citizenship Amendment Act and those opposing it, leaving 53 dead and hundreds injured. Most of those killed were Muslims.

The Delhi Police have claimed that the violence was part of a larger conspiracy to defame Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.

Khalid, arrested by the Delhi Police on September 13, 2020, has sought bail saying that he had no role in the violence nor any “conspiratorial connect” with other accused persons in the case.

The former Jawaharlal Nehru University student approached the Supreme Court after the Delhi High Court denied him bail in October.

At Thursday’s hearing, a bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Dipankar Datta posted the case for hearing on November 1, citing lack of time.

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal urged the judges to hear the case immediately, saying that he is a young student who has been behind bars for three years.

“There’s no chance of framing charges yet, how long...

Read more