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The Supreme Court adjourned the hearing of a bail plea filed by a former student of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Umar Khalid, in an Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UA(P)A) case related to an alleged conspiracy behind the North-East Delhi riots in February 2020.
The bail plea has been adjourned for hearing on January 24. A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mittal Satish adjourned the hearing as senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Khalid and Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, representing Delhi police, sought adjournment. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal requested the adjournment, saying he is engaged in a Constitution bench hearing today and that a Delhi police adjournment was sought due to the unavailability of ASG Raju. The bench was initially reluctant to adjourn the matter; however, after repeated persuasions by Sibal and other parties, the apex court deferred the matter, saying no further adjournment will be granted. "The impression goes that the court is not taking up the matter," the bench said as counsels were requesting adjournment. Sibal had earlier said certain provisions of the UA(P)A, including provisions concerning terrorism, raising funds for terrorist acts and conspiracy, did not apply in this case. Khalid approached the top court, challenging an October 2022 Delhi High Court verdict that denied bail to him. Khalid, arrested by Delhi Police in September 2020, sought bail in the High Court on the grounds that he neither had any "criminal role" in the violence in the city's north-east area nor any "conspiratorial connect" with any other accused in the case. The Delhi police had opposed Khalid's bail plea. He approached the High Court, challenging the dismissal of his bail application by the trial court in March 2022. He was charged with criminal conspiracy, rioting, and unlawful assembly, along with several sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Besides Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, activist Khalid Saifi, JNU students Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita, Jamia Coordination Committee members Safoora Zargar, former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain and several others were booked under the stringent law in the case. The violence had erupted during the protests against CAA and NRC, leaving 53 people dead and over 700 injured. (ANI)
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