Delhi Riots Case: Court Defers Umar Khalid's Bail Plea Order to 21 March

Last month, Khalid was produced in handcuffs in Karkardooma Court for a hearing in the conspiracy case.

Umar Khalid, a former Jawaharlal Nehru University student, was arrested on 13 September 2020.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A Delhi court on Monday, 14 March, deferred pronouncing the order in the bail plea filed by activist Umar Khalid to 21 March, in connection with the Delhi riots larger conspiracy case, which was filed under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and registered under FIR 59.

Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat of Delhi's Karkardooma Court said that the order was reserved until 21 March as the defence had not filed their written submissions in the matter.

Khalid's counsel opposed the UAPA charges during the hearing on Monday and said that his speech in Amravati was about Gandhi, harmony, and the Constitution, which was not a crime, news agency IANS reported.

Opposing the bail plea, Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Amit Prasad argued that the permission for the Amravati programme was rejected on 11 February 2020 by the Maharashtra Police as then US President Donald Trump was visiting India on the same day.

He also submitted that there was adequate material on record against the accused, ANI reported.

Upon hearing both sides, the bench reserved the order.

The Conspiracy Case

Communal clashes had taken over northeast Delhi as protests intensified against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) in the national capital in February 2020. As many as 53 people had been reported dead, hundreds were injured, and property worth crores was destroyed in the violence.

FIR 59 was filed against 15 people, invoking 25 Sections, including murder, attempt to murder, rioting, and the anti-terror law, UAPA.

Khalid, a former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student, was arrested on 13 September 2020.

While the primary 17,000-page charge sheet was filed in September 2020, the trial is yet to begin in this case.

The seven accused – Umar Khalid, Meeran Haider, Mohd Saleem Khan, Saleem Malik, Sharjeel Imam, Shadab Ahmed, and Khalid Saifi – are facing charges under the UAPA, besides criminal conspiracy, rioting, murder, and attempt to murder charges, among others.