The Supreme Court is set to pronounce orders on the bail pleas of Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and three others in the Delhi riots case on 5 January after the apex court re-opens following the winter break.
On 10 December, the Supreme Court reserved its verdict on bail pleas of those accused in the UAPA case related to the alleged conspiracy behind the February 2020 riots in Delhi.
A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and NV Anjaria heard arguments from Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju and senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Singhvi, Siddhartha Dave, Salman Khurshid and Sidharth Luthra.
Strongly opposing the bail pleas of activist Umar, Sharjeel and others, the Delhi Police had said the February 2020 riots were not something spontaneous, but an “orchestrated, pre-planned and well-designed” attack on India’s sovereignty.
What are the charges against Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, others?
Umar, Sharjeel and other accused were booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA) anti-terror law and provisions of the erstwhile IPC for allegedly being the “masterminds” of the 2020 riots, which left 53 people dead and over 700 injured.
The violence erupted during widespread protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
(This is a developing story. Keep checking for more updates)
