The Supreme Court of India will resume hearings on November 6 on the bail pleas of activist and former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) scholar Umar Khalid and several others accused in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case.
The bench, comprising Justices Aravind Kumar and NV Anjaria, will examine the petitions challenging the prolonged incarceration of the accused under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), The Wire reports.
The case stems from the violent clashes that broke out in northeast Delhi in February 2020 during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The Delhi Police allege that Khalid and others were part of a “larger conspiracy” to incite communal unrest aimed at destabilising the government.
Now, the Delhi Police also levelled the charge that that the riots were orchestrated to ensure a regime change-style operation, and the protest was only a cover for it, with additional solicitor general SV Raju, representing the Delhi Police urging the bench “not to dilute the standards for bail under the UAPA.”
However, these charges have not been proven in court.
Counsels for the accused, however, maintain that they were exercising their democratic right to dissent, and have been falsely implicated, while poling holes in the allegations presented by the Delhi Police.
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Umar Khalid, argued that his client had been “singled out” despite no strong evidence against him. He pointed at 97 acquittals in 116 riot-related cases, as well as lower court observations about fabricated evidence in the case.
Appearing for Jamia Milia Islamia alumnus and activist Shifa-ur-Rehman, Senior Advocate Salman Khurshid stated that his client had been granted interim bail twice in the case, and there was no evidence of unlawful act against him. Khurshid further stated that Gandhian non-violent dissent cannot be equated with criminal conspiracy.
Counsel for several of the accused pleaded for bail, citing the passage of years since the cases were filed and the activists and students jailed, with little discernible progress.
