Opposition leaders on Monday questioned the Supreme Court’s refusal to grant bail to activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case and drew a contrast with the repeated paroles granted to convicted rapist and Dera Sacha Sauda chief, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.
The Supreme Court on Monday refused bail to Khalid and Imam in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case but granted it to five others, citing "hierarchy of participation" and saying all accused in the case do not stand on the same footing.
“While rejecting the bail pleas of Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, the Supreme Court said that the trial should be conducted as quickly as possible,” said advocate Sarim Naved, who represented activist Gulfisha Fatima who was given bail in the same case.,
“It added that if the examination of all protected witnesses is not completed within one year, Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam may apply for bail again after one year.”
CPM MP John Brittas said the principle that “bail is the rule, jail the exception” appeared selectively applied.
“No bail to Umar Khalid — detained for over five years under the draconian UAPA, with the trial yet to even begin. Pre-trial jail is not a punishment!!” Brittas wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
He contrasted this with Singh, a convicted rapist and murderer, being granted another 40-day parole, his 15th since his 2017 conviction.
“One languishes indefinitely without trial. The other enjoys repeated ‘jail vacations’ on demand,” Brittas said.
Singh, who is serving a 20-year sentence for raping two of his disciples, walked out of Sunaria jail in Rohtak earlier on Monday after being granted the latest parole.
The CPM, in a separate post, said the denial of bail in the Delhi riots conspiracy case violated principles of natural justice.
“The Supreme Court’s denial of bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, who have spent over five years in jail under the draconian UAPA without trial or conviction, is against the principles of natural justice,” the party said, alleging the law was being used to crush dissent.
RJD MP Manoj Jha said the denial of bail raises troubling questions.
"While it is true that constitutional courts have the power and indeed the duty to grant bail where incarceration becomes unduly long, unjustified, or disproportionate. Yet, in the case of Umar Khalid and Sharjeel, the prevailing judicial view seems to be that the time already spent in jail is still not long enough, and that the delay in trial is not yet shocking or unconstitutional," he said.
"This raises troubling questions about how much incarceration must be endured before constitutional protections are activated and achieved," he added.
The February 2020 riots in northeast Delhi left 53 people dead and more than 700 injured.
The BJP welcomed the apex court’s decision, calling it a “big slap” on the Congress. Party spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla wrote on X, “Satyameva Jayate (truth alone triumphs),” and demanded that the Congress apologise for backing what he termed the “tukde-tukde gang”.
Another BJP spokesperson, Pradeep Bhandari, said the ruling exposed the Congress ecosystem for portraying Khalid and Imam as “innocent victims”, adding that Rahul Gandhi’s “urban Naxals” stood defeated both legally and politically.