Delay In Trial Doesn't Operate As 'Trump Card': SC To Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam

The Supreme Court said there was a prima facie case against Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

The top court had in December reserved its verdict on separate pleas of the accused.

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The Supreme Court while refusing bail to activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy matter said the delay in trial does not operate as 'trump card' which automatically displaces statutory safeguards.

The court said there was a prima facie case against them under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. However, a bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria granted bail to activists Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, Mohd. Saleem Khan, and Shadab Ahmad.

"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 top court had in December 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.

2020 Delhi Riots Case

Umar, Sharjeel and the other accused were booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (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.