The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and other co-accused in the 2022 Delhi communal riots case to furnish their permanent residential addresses to the court by the next date of hearing.

The oral directions passed by a bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N.V. Anjaria to their lawyers came while dealing with the bail applications filed by the accused seeking relief on the ground that the accused have been in jail for over five-and-a-half years and the trial is yet to commence.

Justice Kumar, who passed the direction, however, did not elaborate on the reason behind seeking the addresses. Courts usually ensure that accused persons seeking bail have a documented permanent address so that they do not escape the law after being released.

The bench on Wednesday said the bail arguments had been going on for several days and it was time for the court to reserve its judgment. Justice Kumar asked the defence lawyers to confine their arguments to a maximum of 15 minutes each. After the conclusion of the defence arguments, solicitor-general Tushar Mehta, if he chooses to respond, shall not get more than 30 minutes, the bench said.