On Tuesday, September 12, the Supreme Court granted leave in the bail application of former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) scholar and activist Umar Khalid in connection with the Delhi riots larger conspiracy case. The case dates back to February 2020 when massive riots broke out in the national capital resulting from communal violence.
Khalid has been in jail since September 2020, awaiting trial under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for his alleged involvement in the incident. A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela Trivedi was hearing his special leave petition challenging the Delhi High Court's decision to deny him bail, as mentioned in a report by LiveLaw.in.
The bench said that it would have to go through the evidence on record and examine each document in order to assess whether the ingredients of the charges levelled against Khalid in the chargesheet could be discerned. Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal who represented Khalid before the court agreed, asking that the case be heard after four weeks. As such, the case is likely to be heard in October.
Notably, the hearing of Khalid's case has been adjourned five times since notice was issued by the Supreme Court in the activist's plea on May 18, as per LiveLaw.in.
