New Delhi, Sept 3: The Delhi High Court has refused to grant bail to nine individuals, including former JNU students Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, in connection with the 2020 Northeast Delhi riots case. The court stressed that the material on record indicates their involvement in what it described as a “serious and pre-planned conspiracy” linked to the large-scale violence.
The nine accused—Khalid, Imam, Gulfisha Fatima, Shifa-ur-Rehman, Athar Khan, Meeran Haider, Mohd Saleem Khan, Abdul Khalid Saifi, and Shadab Ahmed—have been in judicial custody for over three years. Despite repeated appeals, the High Court maintained that the charges levelled against them fall under grave offences, including provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
According to the prosecution, the riots were not a spontaneous reaction but the outcome of coordinated planning. The protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) allegedly provided a platform for mobilising people, which escalated into violence in February 2020, leaving more than 50 people dead and hundreds injured.
The bench pointed out that the investigation carried out by the Delhi Police had resulted in thousands of pages of documents and electronic records, along with testimonies from multiple witnesses. These, the court said, cannot be brushed aside at the stage of considering bail.
“The court has to ensure that individual rights are protected, but at the same time, public order and national security cannot be compromised,” the judgment observed.
With the trial yet to begin, the nine accused will continue to remain in custody. The decision underlines the judiciary’s stance that conspiracy cases linked to mass violence require careful scrutiny before granting relief to the accused.
