The BJP on Monday welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision denying bail to activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in the 2020 Delhi riots case, calling it a “big slap” on the Congress and demanding an apology for backing what it termed divisive forces.

The Supreme Court refused to grant bail to Khalid and Imam, citing a prima facie case against them under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria, however, granted bail to activists Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, Mohd Saleem Khan and Shadab Ahmad.

Reacting to the order, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla wrote on X, “Satyameva Jayate (truth alone triumphs).”

Calling Khalid and Imam the "poster boys" of divisive forces in India, the BJP claimed that the Congress ecosystem was projecting them as "innocent victims" to protect them.

“The Supreme Court has denied bail to activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam. Prima facie allegations are true,” he said.

The Congress must apologise for supporting the “tukde-tukde gang, from Afzal to Umar and Sharjeel,” Poonawalla added.

Another BJP spokesperson, Pradeep Bhandari, said the ruling was a “big slap” on Rahul Gandhi and the Congress ecosystem, alleging that the party had portrayed Khalid and Imam as “innocent victims.”

In the court of public opinion and the court of law, Gandhi's "urban Naxals" stand defeated, he charged.

Bhandari said, "Will the Congress apologise to the nation to project tukde-tukde forces inimical to India as victims?"