2020 Delhi riots: SC adjourns hearing on Umar Khalid’s bail plea

The Supreme Court on Monday adjourned the hearing on the bail plea filed by student activist Umar Khalid, who was arrested and charged under the Unlawful Activities Activities (Prevention) Act in connection with the alleged larger conspiracy case behind the 2020 Delhi riots.

A bench comprising of Justices A.S. Bopanna and Bela M. Trivedi adjourned the hearing in view of the letter circulated by the counsel for the petitioner seeking an adjournment for a period of one week.

The matter is likely to be further listed on August 9 as per the information available on the apex court’s official website.

In response to Khalid’s plea, the Delhi Police submitted its counter affidavit on Sunday, which is yet to be received on record officially.

On July 12, the Supreme Court posted the matter for July 24 after the counsel for Delhi police sought more time to file a reply citing voluminous charge sheet, running into thousands of pages.

“The man is in custody for two years and eleven months. What counter (affidavit) is there to file? It’s a bail plea,” senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Khalid, had argued.

Khalid has approached the top court against denial of bail by the Delhi High Court.

A bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Rajnish Bhatnagar of high court has rejected Khalid's appeal seeking regular bail on October 18 last year.

He had challenged the trial court order which had denied him bail in connection with the UAPA case.

His alleged offensive speeches delivered at Amaravati during the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens were the basis of allegations against him in the riots case.

JNU scholars and activists Khalid and Sharjeel Imam are among the nearly a dozen people involved in the alleged larger conspiracy case linked with the riots as per the Delhi Police.

The riots broke out in the national capital in February 2020 as clashes between the anti-CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) and pro-CAA protesters took a violent turn, in which more than 50 people lost their lives and over 700 were injured.