North East Delhi riots: Umar Khalid moves HC seeking bail in UAPA case

Umar Khalid has been in custody since September 2020. The investigation in the case is still ongoing after the filing of the charge sheet and supplementary charge sheets.

Earlier, his bail petition was dismissed by the trial court. Now he has moved to the Delhi High Court. His petition is listed for hearing before the division bench headed by Justice Prathiba M Singh on Monday.

On May 28, Delhi's Karkardooma Court refused to grant regular bail to Umar Khalid. While rejecting the bail plea, the trial court had referred to the order of the Delhi High Court, which said that allegations against the accused were prima facie true and he did not deserve bail.

Special judge Sameer Bajpai in his order had said, "Hon'ble High Court analysed the case against the applicant and finally concluded that allegations against the applicant are prima-facie true and that the embargo created by section 43D(5) of UAPA squarely applies against the applicant and the applicant does not deserve bail."

"It is clear that the Hon'ble High Court has minutely considered the role of the applicant and declined the relief as desired by him," the Special judge observed in the order passed on May 28.

The trial court also said that the High Court did a surface analysis and concluded that a prima facie case was made against the accused.

"As according to Vernon's case as relied upon by ld. counsel for the applicant, while considering bail, no 'deep analysis' of the facts of a case can be done and only 'surface analysis' of the probative value of evidence has to be done and as such the Hon'ble High Court has infact did complete surface analysis of probative value of the evidence while considering the prayer of the applicant for grant of bail and after doing so it was concluded that prima-facie case is made out against the applicant," trial court had noted in the order.

The court had said that when the Hon'ble High Court has already dismissed the criminal appeal of the applicant vide order dated October 18, 2022, and thereafter, the applicant approached the Hon'ble Supreme Court and withdrew his petition, the order of this Court as passed on March 24, 2022, has attained finality and now, in no stretch of imagination this court can make analysis of the facts of the case as desired by the applicant and consider the relief as prayed by him.

The trial court has dismissed his two bail applications.

He was arrested in September 2020. Since then, he has been in custody. He had sought regular bail under Section 437 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and Section 43D (5) of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967 for grant of regular bail. (ANI)