The Delhi Police has told the High Court that the bail petitions filed by activist Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in the 2020 riots conspiracy case were “illegal” and an “attempt to mislead the court”, reported Bar and Bench on Wednesday.The police also repeated its allegations that Khalid and Imam were the “masterminds” of the riots, reported Live Law.Khalid, Imam and several other activists were arrested between January 2020 and September 2020 in connection with the communal violence that broke out in North East Delhi in February 2020 between supporters of the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act and those opposing it. The violence had left 53 dead and hundreds injured. Most of those killed were Muslims.Those accused in the matter have been charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, the Arms Act and sections of the Indian Penal Code.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.The trial against Khalid and Imam is yet to begin.This is the third round of bail pleas the activists have filed. On the first two occasions when they petitioned to get bail, their pleas were rejected right up to the Supreme Court.Referring to the Supreme Court’s January order denying them bail, the police have told the High Court that according to the order, the “risk profiles” of all accused are “markedly dissimilar”, which justifies the continued detention of the activists, reported Live Law.On January 5, a bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and NV Anjaria granted bail to Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa-ur-Rehman, Shadab Ahmed and Muhammad Saleem Khan in the Delhi riots case.The bench had said that Khalid and Imam could file fresh petitions after all protected witnesses are examined or after one year. It also said that in cases under the anti-terror law, delay in trials cannot act as a “trump card” overriding statutory safeguards.The police have argued before the High Court that the threshold then set by the Supreme Court has not yet been met, reported Bar and Bench.Noting that the two activists’ petition relies on an order delivered in May by the Supreme Court, the police said that the judgment of a co-ordinate bench in a different case cannot override the directions issued in January.On May 18, a Supreme Court bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan criticised the January verdict, saying that “bail is the rule and jail is an exception” even in prosecutions under the anti-terror law.Edited by Neerad Pandharipande.Also read: Umar Khalid’s five years of incarceration: ‘Do I even know the world any more?’‘Be with us again, in freedom, Sharjeel and Umar’: A JNU teacher’s message for her jailed students