The Delhi High Court on Wednesday rejected the bail pleas of activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in a case related to the 2020 northeast Delhi riots, in which they have been charged under India’s anti-terror law, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Bar and Bench reported.
This was the third time Khalid and Imam have been denied bail in the case, while the trial is yet to begin.
A division bench comprising Justices Prathiba M Singh and Dinesh Bhatt dismissed their appeals against a July 4 order of a trial court that had rejected their bail applications.
The High Court said it was “bound by judicial discipline” and could not alter the conditions laid down by the Supreme Court in an order issued on Jan. 5 in relation to the two accused, Live Law reported.
The Supreme Court had in January rejected bail for Khalid and Imam but granted relief to activists Gulfisha Fatima, Meera Haider, Shifa-Ur-Rehman, Muhammad Saleem Khan and Shadab Ahmed.
It had said Khalid and Imam could approach the courts again for bail after protected witnesses had been examined or after one year, whichever came first.
The Supreme Court had also said Khalid and Imam “stand on a qualitatively different footing as compared to other accused”.
The High Court on Wednesday said it found no reason to interfere with the trial court’s decision in light of the conditions imposed by the Supreme Court and dismissed the appeals, Live Law reported.
Khalid and Imam had sought relief citing a later Supreme Court judgment in an unrelated bail case involving a person charged under the UAPA. In that judgment, another bench had raised questions about aspects of the January ruling concerning their bail.
On May 18, a Supreme Court bench had observed that “bail is the rule and jail is an exception” while dealing with a separate case under the anti-terror law.
Delhi Police opposed the fresh pleas, arguing that a judgment by a coordinate bench in another case could not override the findings and directions issued by the Supreme Court in Khalid and Imam’s own case, Bar and Bench reported.
Khalid, Imam and several other activists were arrested between January and September 2020 in connection with the communal violence that broke out in northeast Delhi in February that year during protests over the Citizenship Amendment Act.
The violence killed 53 people and injured hundreds, with Muslims accounting for most of the deaths.
The accused have been charged under the UAPA, the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, the Arms Act and provisions of the Indian Penal Code.
Delhi Police has alleged that the violence was part of a wider conspiracy aimed at tarnishing the Narendra Modi government and was linked to protests against the amended citizenship law. The accused have denied the allegations.
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