SC defers bail pleas of Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Gulfisha to Sept 19
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday deferred to September 19 the hearing of bail pleas filed by activists Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Gulfisha Fatima, and Meeran Haider in connection with the alleged conspiracy behind the February 2020 Delhi riots.
A bench comprising Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria said it had received the case files late, leading to the adjournment. The activists are among several accused challenging the September 2 Delhi High Court order that denied bail to nine individuals.
The high court had dismissed the pleas of Khalid, Imam, Fatima, Mohd Saleem Khan, Shifa-ur-Rehman, Athar Khan, Haider, Abdul Khalid Saifi, and Shadab Ahmed. A separate bench of the high court also rejected the bail application of another accused, Tasleem Ahmed, on the same day.
In its ruling, the high court said that while the Constitution grants citizens the right to protest, such actions must remain “orderly, peaceful and within the framework of law.” The order observed that the right to protest and freedom of speech under Article 19(1)(a) were not absolute, but 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 bench remarked in its decision. Khalid, Imam, and others face charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Indian Penal Code for allegedly being the “masterminds” behind the riots, which erupted during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC). The violence left 53 people dead and injured more than 700. The accused, who have denied the allegations, have remained in custody since 2020. Their bail pleas were earlier rejected by a trial court before being turned down by the Delhi High Court. Meanwhile, Amnesty International and six other international human rights groups issued a joint statement urging the Indian government to release Khalid ahead of what they described as the fifth year of his “unjust detention without trial.”
“The Government of India must immediately and unconditionally release human rights defender and student activist Umar Khalid, who has been incarcerated for five long years without trial on politically motivated charges,” said Aakar Patel, Chair of Amnesty International India’s board.
Patel further stated that Khalid’s detention, along with the continued incarceration of other activists like Fatima, Imam, Saifi, Shifa-ur-Rehman, and Haider, reflected a broader pattern of selective prosecution and efforts to “criminalize dissent.”
