In New Delhi, the Supreme Court will take up Monday’s hearing of the bail petitions filed by student leaders Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Gulfisha Fatima and other activists linked to the 2020 North‑East Delhi riots. The four men and women are still held under the strict Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, or UAPA.
The court’s list on its website says that the bench, made up of Justices Aravind Kumar and N.V. Anjaria, will keep hearing the case for co‑accused Meeran Haider, Mohd Saleem Khan and Shifa Ur Rehman, and the Delhi Police on Wednesday, November 3.
During the previous session, senior lawyer Kapil Sibal, who represented Umar Khalid, said the prosecution had dragged the case for years and now tried to pin the blame on the accused. “They claim the delay is because I’m moving slowly, but the facts show the opposite,” Sibal said. He added that Khalid was mentioned in only one of the 751 FIRs filed about the riots, and that he was not even in Delhi when the riots happened. No incriminating evidence or witnesses point to him, Sibal argued. He also said that Khalid’s alleged acts do not meet the UAPA definition of a “terrorist act,” citing earlier bail approvals for other co‑accused such as Asif Iqbal Tanha, Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal.
For Sharjeel Imam, senior advocate Siddharth Dave told the bench that the investigation took more than three years before the prosecution filed supplementary chargesheets up to September 2024. “The trial has stalled because the probe was said to be ongoing,” Dave said. Imam has been in custody since January 25, 2020—long before the February riots. “I was in custody a month before the riots erupted,” he told the judges, pointing to his December 2019 speeches about the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). When asked whether he incited violence, Dave said, “I called for blockades, not for violence.”
Gulfisha Fatima was represented by senior lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who argued that the only allegation against her was setting up a protest site. “No violence occurred at those sites, and there is no evidence—oral or documentary—showing that she distributed violent material,” Singhvi said.
Earlier, the Delhi High Court had denied bail to Imam, Khalid and several others accused in the “larger conspiracy” case related to the 2020 riots. The Supreme Court’s decision to hear these petitions again highlights the growing scrutiny of the UAPA’s use in politically charged cases.
Source: ianslive
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