Delhi riots case: SC defers bail pleas of Umar Khalid, others to Sept 19

The Supreme Court on Friday adjourned to September 19 bail pleas of activists Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Gulfisha Fatima and Meeran Haider in the UAPA case related to the alleged conspiracy behind the February 2020 riots in the national capital.

A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria said it received the files very late.

The activists have challenged the September 2 Delhi High Court order which denied bail to nine persons, including Khalid and Imam, saying "conspiratorial" violence under the garb of demonstrations or protests by citizens couldn't be allowed.

Those who faced bail rejection include Khalid, Imam, Fatima, Mohd Saleem Khan, Shifa Ur Rehman, Athar Khan, Meeran Haider, Abdul Khalid Saifi and Shadab Ahmed.

The bail plea of another accused Tasleem Ahmed was rejected by a different high court bench on September 2.

The high court said the Constitution affords citizens the right to protest and carry out demonstrations or agitations, provided they are orderly, peaceful and without arms and such actions must be within the bounds of law.

While the high court said the right to participate in peaceful protests and to make speeches in public meetings was said to have been protected under Article 19(1)(a), and couldn't be blatantly curtailed, it observed the right was "not absolute" and "subject to reasonable restrictions".

"If the exercise of an unfettered right to protest were permitted, it would damage the constitutional framework and impinge upon the law-and-order situation in the country," the bail rejection order said.

Khalid, Imam and the rest of the accused persons were booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and provisions of the IPC for allegedly being the "masterminds" of the February 2020 riots, which left 53 people dead and over 700 injured.

The violence erupted during the protests against the CAA and NRC.

These accused, who have denied all the allegations levelled against them, have been in jail since 2020 and they sought bail in the high court after a trial court rejected their bail pleas.