The Delhi High Court (HC) is scheduled to hear the bail petitions of several accused individuals, including former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Umar Khalid and student activist Sharjeel Imam, on Monday, November 25, in connection with the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) case, according to a PTI report
The case concerns the alleged larger conspiracy behind the communal riots in Delhi in February 2020.
Khalid was arrested by the Delhi police in September 2020, and had appealed a trial court's May 28 order that denied him bail in the case.
He has been accused by the police of orchestrating protests at 23 locations, which they claim contributed to the Delhi riots in 2020. He has been charged with criminal conspiracy, rioting, unlawful assembly, and various other offences under the UAPA, and has been in jail ever since.
Imam has been accused of waging a war against the state and promoting enmity over a 2019 speech at Jamia Millia Islamia. A First Information Report (FIR) was filed on January 25, 2020, at the interstate cell of the crime branch against Imam for delivering two speeches during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), including one at Jamia on December 13, 2019. The charges included sections 124A (waging war against the state), 153A (promoting communal enmity), and other offences under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
