The Delhi High Court on Tuesday, October 18, refused to grant bail to activist and former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Umar Khalid, in a case related to alleged conspiracy behind the riots in north-east Delhi in February 2020. “There is no merit in the bail appeal. Bail appeal is dismissed,” said a bench comprising Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Rajnish Bhatnagar.
Umar Khalid, arrested by the Delhi Police in September 2020 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), had sought bail on grounds that he neither had any “criminal role” in the violence in the city's north-east area nor any “conspiratorial connect” with any other accused in the case. The bail plea, however, was opposed by the Delhi Police.
Earlier in March this year, a trial court here had denied bail to Umar stating that there were “reasonable grounds” to believe that the accusations against him were prima facie true. In his appeal against the trial court’s order, the former JNU student had argued that he was not present when the violence broke out. Khalid has also argued that the case is based on cooked-up statements. His counsel had earlier argued that he has been in jail for the last two years based on a protected witness’ hearsay statement which had not been corroborated so far.
Umar, Sharjeel Imam, and several others have been booked under the draconian UAPA and provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for allegedly being the “masterminds” of the February 2020 riots in Delhi, which had left 53 people dead and over 700 injured. The violence had erupted during the protests against the Union government’s controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the proposal for a National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Besides Umar Khalid, activist Khalid Saifi, JNU students Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita, Jamia Coordination Committee members Safoora Zargar, former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain and several others have also been booked under the stringent law in the case.