Sharjeel Imam and Umar Khalid have approached a Delhi court seeking bail in the Delhi riots case, saying that their incarceration without the start of trial violated their fundamental right to liberty.
The matter was presented before the Additional Sessions Judge Dr. Sumedh Sethi of the Karkardooma Court. He said that the bail pleas filed by both Khalid and Imam will be heard on July 4.
Imam in his plea highlighted that he has been incarcerated for the last six years with no substantial developments in the case.
This comes ahead of the rejection of the bail plea to Khalid and Imam by the apex court in the 2020 Delhi riots larger conspiracy case. Meanwhile, the court granted relief to the five other accused. The court granted bail to Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, Shadab Ahman, and Shifa Ur Rehman.
Responding to it, a bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and NV Anjaria said that there was a prima facie case against Khalid and Imam under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). The court highlighted that all accused in the case did not stand on the same footing in terms of “hierarchy of participation.”
The Arrest
Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, and others were booked under the UAPA and provisions of the IPC on allegations that they conspired in the Delhi riots 2020, which killed at least 53 people, mostly from the Muslim community. Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, and others were said to be the “masterminds” behind the case.
The police said that the violence was a part of a conspiracy to defame the government and was organized against the amended Citizenship Act.
