New Delhi: The Supreme Court will hear on September 12 the bail petitions of student activists Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Gulfisha Fatima, and Meeran Haider in connection with the 2020 Delhi riots case. The accused challenge a Delhi High Court order that denied them bail under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
The case stems from the February 2020 violence in northeast Delhi that left 53 people dead and over 700 injured. The Delhi Police allege the activists played a central role in a conspiracy behind the riots that followed protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens.
A Division Bench of the Delhi High Court had earlier rejected their pleas, calling the allegations grave. The court observed that the riots were not spontaneous but premeditated and said conspiratorial violence under the garb of protests cannot be permitted. The Bench cited speeches and alleged mobilisation efforts as grounds to deny bail.
Alongside Khalid, Imam, Fatima, and Haider, bail was also denied to Athar Khan, Abdul Khalid Saifi, Mohd. Saleem Khan, Shifa–ur-Rehman, and Shadab Ahmed. Another accused, Tasleem Ahmed, was refused bail by a different High Court Bench on September 2.
The activists have been in custody since 2020. Their lawyers argue that the trial has been delayed and highlight parity with co-accused such as Natasha Narwal, Devangana Kalita, and Asif Iqbal Tanha, who were granted bail in 2021. Former Congress councillor Ishrat Jahan was released in 2022.
