Anti-CAA activist Umar Khalid has approached a Delhi court seeking interim bail in the UAPA case alleging a “larger conspiracy” behind the 2020 North-East Delhi violence, requesting temporary release to attend his sister’s wedding, the Live Law reported.
The application will be heard on December 11 by Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Bajpai at the Karkardooma Courts.
This is not the first time Khalid has sought such relief: in December last year, he was granted seven days’ interim bail to attend a family wedding, and in 2022 he received a week-long interim bail for his sister’s marriage ceremony.
Khalid’s regular bail pleas have been repeatedly rejected.
The Delhi High Court denied him bail in October 2022, prompting him to approach the Supreme Court; he later withdrew that SLP. His second regular bail plea was dismissed by the trial court, after which he again moved the High Court. On September 2, a division bench observed that Khalid’s alleged role in the conspiracy appeared “grave,” citing accusations that his speeches were intended to “instigate mass mobilization” along communal lines. His SLP against the latest rejection remains pending before the Supreme Court.
The case stems from FIR 59 of 2020, registered by the Delhi Police Special Cell under various IPC provisions and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. Alongside Khalid, the accused include Tahir Hussain, Khalid Saifi, Ishrat Jahan, Meeran Haider, Gulfisha Fatima, Shifa-Ur-Rehman, Asif Iqbal Tanha, Shadab Ahmed, Tasleem Ahmed, Saleem Malik, Mohd. Saleem Khan, Athar Khan, Safoora Zargar, Sharjeel Imam, Faizan Khan, and Natasha Narwal.
The 2020 Delhi violence resulted in 53 deaths, 38 of them Muslims. Widely described as an anti-Muslim riot, the violence followed inflammatory speeches by BJP leaders, including Kapil Mishra, shortly before the clashes erupted.
Many observers and rights groups argue that instead of prosecuting those who incited and participated in the attacks, the state turned its focus on activists and students who peacefully opposed the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). Critics say these dissenters were falsely implicated through a distorted narrative of a “larger conspiracy” to spark the violence.
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