The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to revisit the legal standard for granting bail under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) while hearing the case of Umar Khalid, and referred the matter to a larger bench due to conflicting judicial rulings.
The move comes amid apparent contradictions in recent Supreme Court observations on bail in terror-related cases under the UAPA.
On May 19, a Delhi court had denied interim bail to Khalid, an accused in the alleged larger conspiracy behind the 2020 Delhi riots, even for two weeks. A day earlier, however, a three judge bench of the Supreme Court had remarked in a separate case that under the UAPA, “bail is the rule and jail is the exception”.
Umar Khalid granted interim bail by Delhi HC
Earlier in the day, the Delhi High Court granted Umar Khalid three days’ interim bail in a case under the anti-terror law UAPA linked to the alleged "larger conspiracy" behind the February 2020 northeast Delhi riots.
A bench of Justices Prathiba M Singh and Madhu Jain allowed Khalid to be released from June 1 to June 3 so that he could spend time with his mother, who is scheduled to undergo surgery.
The court noted that while the Supreme Court had rejected Khalid’s regular bail plea on January 5, it had granted him relief by taking an “empathetic view”.
“Taking an empathetic view, this court is inclined to grant him interim bail for three days from June 1 to June 3 to enable the appellant to spend time with his mother,” the bench said.
Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the Delhi Police, argued that Khalid’s mother was undergoing a minor surgery and suggested that he be allowed to visit her under police escort.
The High Court was hearing Khalid’s appeal against a May 19 trial court order rejecting his interim bail plea.
Khalid had sought 15 days’ interim bail to attend the 40-day post-death rituals of his uncle and to care for his mother during her surgery.
The trial court had earlier observed that attending the ritual was “not that necessary” and said other family members were available to look after his mother. Khalid was booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for allegedly being one of the “masterminds” behind the February 2020 riots, which left 53 people dead and over 700 injured.
The violence had broken out during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 and the National Register of Citizens.
Several others, including activists Sharjeel Imam and Khalid Saifi, as well as former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain, were also booked in the alleged larger conspiracy case being investigated by the Delhi Police Special Cell.
