2020 Delhi riots case: Court rejects bail pleas of Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam
Public Lokpal
July 04, 2026
2020 Delhi riots case: Court rejects bail pleas of Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam
New Delhi: Court denies bail to student activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in 2020 Delhi riots larger-conspiracy case.
Khalid and Imam moved bail pleas contending that their continued incarceration without commencement of trial violated their fundamental right to liberty.
Khalid's plea also argued that even as his earlier application was rejected by the apex court, subsequent judicial developments constituted a "change in circumstances." He referred to the court's remarks in May in another case when it asserted that "bail is the rule" even under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
The fresh pleas were filed after the Supreme Court on January 5 refused them bail in the UAPA case.
On January 5, the Supreme Court denied bail to Khalid and Imam in the larger conspiracy case while granting relief to co-accused Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, Mohammad Saleem Khan and Shadab Ahmad.
A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria had then observed that there was a prima facie case against Khalid and Imam under the UAPA and held that all accused could not be treated equally in view of the "hierarchy of participation."
Khalid, Imam and several others were booked under the UAPA and provisions of the IPC for allegedly being part of a larger conspiracy behind the February 2020 riots in northeast Delhi.
The violence erupted during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC), leaving 53 people dead and more than 700 injured.
PTI