A Delhi court on Saturday dismissed the bail pleas filed by Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in relation to the North East Delhi riots case, which claimed the lives of at least 53 individuals. Khalid and Imam have been in jail for six years without the commencement of trial. Both Imam and Khalid sought bail on the basis that their prolonged incarceration without commencement of trial violated their fundamental right to personal liberty.
The court, as reported by Live Law, said that the judgement of Gulfisha Fatima and Syed Iftikhar Andrabi has been referred to a larger bench, and unless the issue is settled, the court cannot take into consideration the bail application of Khalid and Imam on any ground.
“Importantly, this Court has no option but to follow the judgment dated 05.01.2026, as passed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court, whereby the petitions of both the applicants were dismissed,” the court noted, as reported by the Bar and Bench.
“In the said judgment, the Honorable Supreme Court, while dismissing the pleas of the applicants, opined that only on the completion of the examination of the protected witnesses as relied upon by the prosecution, or upon the expiry of a period of one year from the date of said order, whichever is earlier, the applicants would be at liberty to renew their prayer for grant of bail before the jurisdictional court. Thus, following the said order of the Hon’ble Supreme Court, this Court cannot entertain the applications and grant bail to the applicants,” the court said, as the Bar and Bench reported.
Khalid submitted that he had spent nearly six years without charges being framed, the PTI reported. Meanwhile, Imam said that the case has not seen any significant development in the proceedings even six months after the Supreme Court denied bail to him.
Earlier than this, on January 5, 2026, the court refused bail to both Khalid and Imam, who are incarcerated under UAPA, while granting relief to co-accused Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa ur Rheman, Mohammad Saleem Khan, and Shadab Ahmad.
