Supreme Court denies bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in Delhi riots case; five others get relief
Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and others were booked under UAPA and provisions of IPC for allegedly being the "masterminds" of the February 2020 riots, which left 53 people dead and over 700 injured. The violence erupted during the protests against the CAA and NRC.
The Supreme Court on Monday (January 5) denied bail to activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in the 2020 Delhi riots larger conspiracy case, saying there was a prima facie case against them under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The Court said that Khalid and Imam stand on qualitatively different footing as compared to other accused in the Delhi riots case.
Five others get bail
A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria, however, granted bail to five other activists in the case, namely:
- Gulfisha Fatima
- Meeran Haider
- Mohd Saleem Khan
- Shifa Ur Rehman, and
- Shadad Ahmad.
The others were granted bail based on the role attributed and their present continued incarceration. The Court granted them bail subject to strict conditions, and if misused, the bail can be cancelled.
What did the Supreme Court say?
"This court is satisfied that the prosecution material disclosed a prima facie allegation against the appellants, Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam. The statutory threshold stands attracted qua these appellants. This stage of proceedings does not justify their enlargement on bail," the bench said.
The court noted that Umar and Sharjeel stand on a "qualitatively different footing" both in terms of prosecution and evidence. "It noted that their roles were central to the alleged offences. As regards these two, though the period of incarceration is continued and long, it does not violate the Constitutional mandate or override the statutory embargo under the laws," the Supreme Court bench said.
The Court, while rejecting Umar and Sharjeel's bail pleas, has granted liberty to the duo to apply for bail afresh in the trial court, once the examination of all prosecution witnesses in the matter are completed or in any case after one year's time.
The top court said that a delay in the trial does not operate as a 'trump card' which automatically displaces statutory safeguards. "In cases involving crimes related to national security, a different and stricter standard for granting bail applies under the law," the court said.
The court stated that if the available material prima facie supports the police's allegations, then custody (imprisonment) will be preferred. However, if this is not the case, bail should be granted.
The Supreme Court also clarified that Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam do not meet the criteria under Section 43D(5) of the UAPA. Consequently, the bail applications of Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam were rejected.
On December 10, the top court reserved its verdict on separate pleas of the accused after hearing arguments from Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for Delhi police, and senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Singhvi, Siddhartha Dave, Salman Khurshid, and Sidharth Luthra, appearing for the accused.
Delhi riots case
Umar, Sharjeel, and several others were charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), an anti-terror law, and provisions of the erstwhile IPC for allegedly being the "masterminds" of the February 2020 riots, which claimed 53 lives and left more than 700 injured. The violence had broken out during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
The accused moved the apex court challenging a Delhi High Court order dated September 2 denying them bail in the "larger conspiracy" case of the February 2020 riots.
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