File image of Umar Khalid.
| Photo Credit: Emmanual Yogini
The Supreme Court on Monday (September 22, 2025) sought the Delhi Police’s response on the bail pleas of activists Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider and Shifa Ur Rehman in the larger conspiracy case linked to the 2020 Delhi riots.
A Bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N.V. Anjaria issued notice and posted the matter for October 7.
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Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Ms. Fatima, submitted that she was a “student who has been behind bars for over five years.” He pointed out that she had also moved an application for interim bail and urged the court to issue notice on it as well.
Justice Kumar, however, remarked, “We will finally dispose of the main petition itself.”
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Mr. Khalid, also sought notice on the pleas. “Your Lordships may grant notice,” he said.
The petitioners are among nine accused whose bail pleas were rejected by the Delhi High Court on September 2. A Division Bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Shalinder Kaur (since retired) had held that the accused played “prima facie grave” roles in the alleged conspiracy.
Alongside the four petitioners, the High Court had denied bail to activists Khalid Saifi, Athar Khan, Mohd. Saleem Khan, and Shadab Ahmed, endorsing the prosecution’s claim that the riots were not “a regular protest” but a “premeditated, well-orchestrated conspiracy.” The bail plea of another accused, Tasleem Ahmed, was dismissed by a separate Bench on September 9.
The accused face charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Indian Penal Code.
The Delhi Police, represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Special Public Prosecutor Amit Prasad, have alleged that the activists were the “masterminds” of the violence, which left 53 people dead and more than 700 injured in February 2020, during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the proposed National Register of Citizens.
“If the exercise of an unfettered right to protest were permitted, it would damage the constitutional framework and impinge upon law and order. Conspiratorial violence under the garb of protests cannot be permitted”, the High Court said in its 133-page verdict. It also observed that the riots were “deliberately timed” to coincide with the visit of then U.S. President Donald Trump, and therefore could not be “lightly brushed aside.”
Mr. Imam, the first to move the Supreme Court, has sought bail on the ground that he has spent over five and a half years in pre-trial detention since his arrest on January 28, 2020. Mr. Khalid, arrested on September 13, 2020, has similarly urged the court to consider the length of his continued incarceration.
The accused have argued that their prolonged incarceration is the result of systemic delays, and that such detention violates their right to liberty and a speedy trial.
Their lawyers have also sought bail on the grounds of parity with the co-accused already released. Activists Natasha Narwal, Devangana Kalita, and Asif Iqbal Tanha secured bail in June 2021, while former Congress councillor Ishrat Jahan was released in March 2022.
Published – September 22, 2025 03:51 pm IST
