Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam move Supreme Court for bail in 2020 Delhi riots case

Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam have approached the Supreme Court for bail, saying protected witnesses are unlikely to be examined before January 5, 2027.

Former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) scholar Umar Khalid and student activist Sharjeel Imam, accused in the larger conspiracy case linked to the 2020 Delhi riots, have moved the Supreme Court seeking bail, arguing that the one-year embargo imposed by the court on January 5 is nearing its end even as the examination of protected witnesses is unlikely to be completed by then.

The petitions filed on Wednesday rely on the court’s observations denying them bail in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case while giving them liberty to revive their bail pleas after the examination of protected witnesses or the expiry of one year, whichever is earlier.

The court had held that the role attributed to the duo stood on a “qualitatively different footing” as it enlarged five accused persons on bail in the riots case while segregating the case of Khalid and Imam.

The court had said, “We are of the opinion that on the completion of the examination of the protected witnesses relied upon by the prosecution, or upon the expiry of a period of one year from the date of this order, whichever is earlier, these two appellants would be at liberty to renew their prayer for grant of bail before the jurisdictional court.”

Both had later approached the Delhi high court, which turned down their bail pleas on September 30, citing the one-year embargo fixed by the top court. The high court bench of justices Pratibha M Singh and Dinesh Bhatt said it was not possible for it to modify the Supreme Court’s order.

Challenging this dismissal, the two have urged the top court to consider the present position as they remain incarcerated for six years and the prosecution has failed to examine even one of the more than 900 witnesses named in the case. According to the prosecution, there are 47 protected witnesses.

Khalid has filed his plea through advocate N Sai Vinod, while Imam has approached the top court through advocate Fauzia Shakil.

The two accused in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case informed the top court that the case is at the stage of arguments on charge. They claimed that arguments on the framing of charges concluded on July 13, but the trial has not proceeded as the trial judge has decided to await the outcome of a Supreme Court judgment on a co-accused’s plea to inspect unrelied documents. The judgment was reserved by the top court in this case on September 1.

The petitioners have argued that “on no fair assessment can examination of protected witnesses be expected to commence, much less to conclude, before January 5, 2027 or for a considerable period thereafter.”

In such a scenario, they stated that “continued detention is no longer process-oriented and becomes punitive by reason of unreasonable and unjustified delay.”

Following the January 5 order, the accused pointed out a further development — another coordinate bench of the Supreme Court, on May 18, in an unrelated case relating to bail under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), found fault with the January 5 decision and held that a delay in trial should entitle an accused person booked under the UAPA to bail.

The January 5 decision was given by a bench of justices Aravind Kumar and NV Anjaria, while the May 18 judgment was delivered by a bench of justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan. The bench headed by Justice Kumar responded to criticism of its own order and, in view of the perceived conflict, referred the matter to a larger bench. This order was passed while considering bail pleas for two other accused – Tasleem Ahmed and Abdul Khalid Saifi – in the 2020 Delhi riots case.

The trial in the Delhi riots case involves 18 accused, and while Khalid and Imam remain in jail, other accused, including Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, Mohammad Saleem Khan and Shadab Ahmed, were granted bail by the same order of January 5.

The Delhi police have invoked the UAPA and other provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against the accused. Out of the 18, only five, including the present petitioners, are in jail.

The riots followed a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act on February 24, 2020, that coincided with the visit of the US President. The police alleged this was deliberately timed to garner international attention.

Khalid was arrested by the Delhi police on September 13, 2020, and has since been languishing in prison. Imam, on the other hand, was arrested in January 2020 in a separate hate speech case in Bihar and was formally arrested in the Delhi riots case on August 25, 2020.