A court on Tuesday denied interim bail to activist Umar Khalid in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case, Live Law reported.The Delhi court said it found the grounds for seeking interim bail to be unreasonable.Khalid had sought interim bail for 15 days to attend the Chehlum ritual marking 40 days since his uncle’s death, and to take care of his mother, who is scheduled to undergo surgery on June 2.Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Bajpai of the Karkardooma Courts said that merely because Khalid and other persons accused in the matter had been granted interim bail earlier and had not violated bail conditions did not mean that bail should be granted every time that it was sought, Live Law reported.The judge questioned why the activist had not sought bail immediately after his uncle’s death, and only applied later for the Chehlum ritual.On Khalid’s mother, the court held that his father and sister could take care of her before and after the surgery, Live Law reported.“Further, as said by the prosecution, the surgery is very simple…and there seems to be no actual requirement or help from the side of the applicant,” the judge said.On January 5, the Supreme Court denied bail to Khalid and former Jawaharlal Nehru University student Sharjeel Imam in the case. A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and NV Anjaria had, however, granted bail to Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa-ur-Rehman, Shadab Ahmed and Muhammad Saleem Khan.However, on Monday, a bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan criticised the denial of bail to them, saying that “bail is the rule and jail is an exception” even in prosecutions under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.Delhi violenceCommunal violence broke out in North East Delhi in February 2020 between supporters of the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act and those opposing it. The riots had left 53 dead and hundreds injured. Most of those killed were Muslims.The police have claimed that the violence was part of a larger conspiracy to defame the Narendra Modi government and was planned by those who organised the protests against the amended Citizenship Act.Khalid is facing charges under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, the Arms Act and sections of the Indian Penal Code. He was arrested on September 13, 2020, and has spent over five years in jail.Edited by Sara Varghese.Also read: Umar Khalid’s five years of incarceration: ‘Do I even know the world any more?’