Today, Monday, July 24, the Supreme Court adjourned the hearing on the bail plea filed by student activist Umar Khalid, who was arrested and charged under the Unlawful Activities Activities (Prevention) Acts during the 2020 Delhi riots.

Khalid has approached the top court against the denial of bail by the Delhi High Court.

As per IANS, a bench comprising Justices AS Bopanna and Bela M Trivedi adjourned the hearing in view of the letter circulated by the counsel for the petitioner seeking an adjournment for a period of one week.

The matter is likely to be further listed on August 9 as per the information available on the apex court’s official website.

The Delhi Police submitted its counter affidavit in response to Khalid’s plea on Sunday, July 24, which is yet to be received on record officially.

The hearing was earlier adjourned to July 24 after the counsel for Delhi police sought more time to file a reply citing a voluminous charge sheet, running into thousands of pages.

“The man is in custody for two years and eleven months. What counter (affidavit) is there to file? It’s a bail plea,” IANS quoted senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Khalid.

Background

Khalid’s alleged offensive speeches delivered at Amaravati during the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) were the basis of accusations against him, alleging that he was connected with the larger conspiracy case behind the 2020 riots.

Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) scholars and activists Khalid and Sharjeel Imam are among the nearly a dozen people involved in the alleged conspiracy.

The riots broke out in the national capital in February 2020 as clashes between the anti-CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) and pro-CAA protesters took a violent turn, in which, more than 50 people lost their lives and over 700 were injured.