SC verdict on Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam bail pleas on Jan 5 in Delhi riots case

The Supreme Court of India will pronounce its verdict on January 5 on the bail pleas of activist Umar Khalid, scholar Sharjeel Imam and other accused in the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) case linked to the 2020 Delhi riots.

A bench comprising Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria will deliver the judgment on pleas filed by Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, Mohd Saleem Khan and Shadab Ahmed.

The petitioners have challenged a September 2 order of the Delhi High Court, which denied them bail in the case related to the alleged “larger conspiracy” behind the February 2020 violence.

The Supreme Court had reserved its verdict on



December 10 after hearing detailed arguments from the prosecution and the accused. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Additional Solicitor General S V Raju appeared for the Delhi Police, while senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Singhvi, Siddhartha Dave, Salman Khurshid and Sidharth Luthra represented the accused.

Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and the others were booked under the UAPA — India’s anti-terror law — along with provisions of the erstwhile Indian Penal Code, for allegedly being the “masterminds” of the riots. The violence, which erupted amid protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC), left 53 people dead and more than 700 injured in parts of north-east Delhi.