Delhi police on Tuesday opposed the bail pleas of activist Umar Khalid and three co-accused in the 2020 Delhi riots case, saying it was a “well-crafted, pre-planned and orchestrated” assault on the sovereignty of the country.

“I would like the myth to be busted. This was not a spontaneous riot but a well-crafted, orchestrated, preplanned, choreographed riot. This was an attack against the sovereignty of the nation,” solicitor-general Tushar Mehta, representing the Delhi police, told a bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N.V. Anjaria

Besides Khalid, the bail pleas of Sharjeel Imam, Gulfisha Fatima and Meeran Haider were listed for consideration. They were booked under the anti-terror law and provisions of the erstwhile IPC for allegedly being the “masterminds” of the riots, which left 53 people dead and over 700 injured.

Mehta told the court that incendiary speeches were made at the anti-CAA protests to incite Muslims to unite and separate the Northeast from India.
He claimed that the prosecution possessed various incriminating materials, including WhatsApp chats and photographs, to prove that a larger conspiracy was hatched against national unity and integrity.

He said the prosecution was willing to conclude the trial within six months,
attributing the delay to the accused for repeatedly filing applications in courts to stall the trial.

Additional solicitor-general S.V. Raju, also representing the Delhi police, submitted that the accused have sought parity with Natasha Narwal, Devyangana Kalita and Asif Iqbal Tanha, who got bail in the case in June 2021 after spending a year in jail.

Raju cited several apex court judgments that held that the bail order of the co-accused could not be treated as a precedent.