Delhi High Court on Tuesday dismissed the bail pleas of activists Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and eight others facing prosecution under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in a conspiracy case linked to the February 2020 riots.

“All the appeals are dismissed,” said a bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Shalinder Kaur while rejecting the bail pleas of Khalid, Imam, Mohd Saleem Khan, Shifa-Ur-Rehman, Athar Khan, Meeran Haider, Abdul Khalid Saifi, Gulfisha Fatima and Shadab Ahmed. A separate division bench rejected the bail plea of Tasleem Ahmed. All of them have been in jail for around five years.

In its 133-page order, the high court said the allegations against the accused persons were grave and that the case and the trial were progressing at a natural pace. “A hurried trial would also be detrimental to the rights of both the Appellants and the State,” it said.

Currently, the court is hearing arguments on the framing of charges against the accused.

Umar Khalid’s father S.Q.R. Ilyas termed the court’s decision “very unfortunate” as his son had spent half a decade behind bars.

“We were expecting bail because this is the fifth time we had approached the courts for bail. Everywhere we were told that there was no case at all. They have spent half a decade in jail,” Ilyas told The Telegraph. “I thought that it was a matter of life and liberty and the court will definitely grant him bail.... We have decided to approach the Supreme Court,” he added.

Khalid, who was arrested in September 2020, had approached the high court last year to seek bail for the second time after his first plea was rejected in October 2022. He withdrew his bail plea from the Supreme Court in February 2024, where he got over 10 adjournments.

“Keeping someone in jail for five years without any trial is in itself a ground for bail. But Khalid’s plea is again rejected by the high court. We do not understand the reason because, as citizens, we only look up to courts for justice. We will go to the Supreme Court, as that is the only option left for us,” Khalid’s partner Banojyotsna Lahiri told PTI, adding that the Supreme Court was the only option left.

He and the other accused in the case had applied for bail, citing the delay in trial and parity with other co-accused who were granted bail.

Out of the total 18 people arrested in the case, six are out on bail. Accused Saleem Malik was refused bail by Delhi High Court in April last year. Tahir Hussain is in jail and is an accused in other riot cases as well.

The court said the role of Imam and Khalid was prima facie “grave” in the alleged conspiracy as they had delivered inflammatory speeches along communal lines at the protest against the CAA and the NRC.

“Roles of the co-accused out on bail were limited when juxtaposed with them, and the plea of parity is not made out,” the court said.

“However, in the present case, the probative value of the evidence against appellants Sharjeel Imam and Umar Khalid, as detailed out by us in the foregoing discussion, prima facie and at this stage, cannot be branded as weak,” it added.

The court also observed that the unfettered right to protest would damage the constitutional framework and impinge upon the law-and-order situation. It took note of the submission of solicitor-general Tushar Mehta, representing the prosecution, that the protest was a premeditated, well-orchestrated conspiracy to commit unlawful activities threatening unity, integrity and sovereignty.

“It becomes the arduous task of the court to strike a balance between individual rights and the interests of the nation, as well as the safety and security of the general public at large. Therefore, these appeals do not succeed,” the court said.