Before the Supreme Court on Friday, activist Umar Khalid maintained that there is no credible evidence linking him to the February 2020 Delhi riots, asserting that he has been “falsely implicated” in a conspiracy case filed under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
Appearing for Khalid, senior advocate Kapil Sibal argued that investigators had failed to produce any material proof connecting his client to the violence. “No money trail, no weapons, no incriminating material, nothing,” Sibal told a bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N. V. Anjaria. Highlighting inconsistencies in the prosecution’s case, he added, “There are 751 FIRs related to the riots, and Khalid figures in only one.
If this is supposed to be a grand conspiracy, that’s quite extraordinary.” Sibal also pointed out that Khalid was not even in Delhi during the days the riots occurred and that no witness had accused him of direct involvement.
Seeking bail, Sibal invoked the principle of parity, referring to the Delhi High Court’s 2021 decision to grant bail to co-accused activists Natasha Narwal, Devangana Kalita, and Asif Iqbal Tanha. He further challenged earlier judicial remarks describing Khalid’s Amravati speech as “inflammatory.” “Anyone can watch that speech, it’s on YouTube. It’s about Gandhi and non-violence,” Sibal said.
In the same hearing, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi pressed for bail for activist Gulfisha Fatima, noting that she has spent over five years behind bars. Singhvi told the court that while the main chargesheet was filed in 2020, the Delhi Police have repeatedly submitted supplementary chargesheets, prolonging the trial unfairly.
“Her bail application has been listed more than ninety times since 2020,” he said, arguing that the prosecution’s allegations boiled down to her role in creating a WhatsApp group for coordinating protests. “The question is one of intent—was there any call for violence or disruption?” Singhvi asked.
Senior advocate Siddharth Dave, representing Sharjeel Imam, also sought relief, contending that his client had already spent five years in custody while the investigation dragged on for three of those years. “My speeches were delivered two months before the riots. There is no direct or proximate link between what I said and the violence that followed,” Dave argued.
The court did not conclude the hearing, which will resume on November 3. Khalid, Imam, Fatima, and Meeran Haider remain accused under the UAPA and various provisions of the Indian Penal Code for allegedly orchestrating the 2020 communal riots, which left 53 people dead and over 700 injured amid the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
