Delhi High Court Rejects Bail Pleas of Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam in 2020 Riots Conspiracy Case

The Delhi High Court on Monday, September 2, dismissed the bail applications of student leaders Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, along with eight others, in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case filed under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

A bench comprising Justice Naveen Chawla and Justice Shailendra Kaur had earlier reserved its verdict on July 9 after hearing arguments from both the prosecution and the defense. The court ruled against granting bail to all ten accused, including Mohammad Saleem Khan, Shafa-ur-Rehman, Athar Khan, Meeran Haider, Abdul Khalid Saifi, Shadab Ahmed, and Gulfashan Fatima.

Umar Khalid was arrested on September 14, 2020, while Sharjeel Imam was taken into custody earlier, on August 25 the same year. The other accused were arrested at different times in connection with the same case.

The case stems from the violence that broke out in Northeast Delhi in February 2020 during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC). The communal riots claimed 53 lives and left over 700 injured.

According to the prosecution, the violence was not spontaneous but the result of a larger, pre-planned conspiracy. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta argued in court that the accused had aimed to tarnish India’s image on the global stage, and that the seriousness of the charges under UAPA outweighed the length of time the accused had already spent in jail. He maintained that prolonged imprisonment alone cannot justify granting bail in such a case.

The bail pleas, some of which had been pending since 2022, were heard by different benches over time before the final ruling was delivered today.