In the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case, the Delhi High Court on Friday issued a notice on former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) scholar Umar Khalid’s petition for bail.
However, a division bench of Justice Prathiba M. Singh and Justice Vikas Mahajan directed the Delhi Police to come back with its response to Khalid’s appeal against the trial court granting him bail on May 4.
Khalid has also applied for interim bail citing the Supreme Court decision of Union of India vs K.A. Najeeb (2021), which addressed the larger question concerning the application of the landmark judgement in the case of delayed trials and prolonged incarceration under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
The High Court had scheduled the appeal for August 27 when it will also take into consideration the similar bail application by co-accused Sharjeel Imam.
The trial court rejected both Khalid and Imam’s plea for bail earlier on July 4, saying that it was “unable to consider the change in the situation since they both had their earlier bail applications turned down by the Supreme Court in January.”
The trial court further said that the divergent views of the Supreme Court on the K.A. Najeeb judgment already had been examined by a larger bench of the SC and therefore, it was not appropriate to accept fresh bail applications till the matter is clarified as regards the legal position.
Conspiracy case against the Delhi riots is still being probed under the UAPA table and several accused are languishing in jail, with the case pending.