The Supreme Court on Monday denied bail to Umar Khaild and Sharjeel Imam in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case.
A bench of Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice N.V. Anjaria Supreme pronounced the judgement on the bail pleas filed by Khalid, Imam and other accused in the case.
The bench said there was a prima facie case against Khalid and Imam under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
"This court is satisfied that the prosecution material disclosed a prima facie allegation against the appellants Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam. The statutory threshold stands attracted qua these appellants. This stage of proceedings does not justify their enlargement on bail," the bench said.
The bench allowed bail to the other accused, including Gulfisha Fatima, Meera Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, Mohammed Saleem Khan and Shadab Ahmed, subject to them meeting a number of conditions.
“This exercise does not dismantle the prosecution case of conspiracy,” the bench said in its judgment, as reported by legal news websites.
Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam stand on a qualitatively different footing as compared to other accused, the bench said.
Umar Khalid's father S Q R Ilyas says he has nothing to say about the Supreme Court not giving bail to his son. "I have nothing to say. The judgement is before you," Ilyas said.
On 10 December, the top court had reserved its verdict on separate pleas of the accused after hearing arguments from solicitor general Tushar Mehta and additional solicitor general S.V. Raju, appearing for Delhi police, and senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Singhvi, Siddhartha Dave, Salman Khurshid and Sidharth Luthra, appearing for the accused.
Khalid, Imam and the other accused were booked under the UAPA, an anti-terror law, and provisions of the erstwhile IPC for allegedly being the "masterminds" of the 2020 riots, which left 53 people dead and more than 700 injured in northeast Delhi.
The violence erupted during widespread protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
The accused moved the apex court challenging a Delhi High Court order dated September 2 denying them bail in the "larger conspiracy" case of the February 2020 riots.