The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Friday the bail petitions of student activists Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, and Gulfisha Fatima in the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) case linked to the alleged conspiracy behind the February 2020 Delhi riots.
A Bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N.V. Anjaria will take up the pleas, while that of co-accused Meeran Haider is listed before Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran.
Earlier, a Division Bench of the Delhi High Court comprising Justices Navin Chawla and Shalinder Kaur had denied bail to nine accused, ruling that the riots were not “a regular protest” but a “premeditated, well-orchestrated conspiracy.” Alongside Mr. Khalid, Mr. Imam, Ms. Fatima, and Mr. Haider, relief was also denied to Athar Khan, Abdul Khalid Saifi, Mohd. Saleem Khan, Shifa-ur-Rehman, and Shadab Ahmed.
The bail plea of another accused, Tasleem Ahmed, was separately rejected by a different High Court Bench on September 2. Mr. Khalid, Mr. Imam, and others have been booked under the UAPA and provisions of the Indian Penal Code for allegedly being the “masterminds” of the violence, which left 53 people dead and over 700 injured. The riots erupted during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens.
