Delhi Riots 2020: Court Denies Bail To Umar Khalid In Larger Conspiracy Case

Umar Khalid and several others have been booked under the anti-terror law UAPA in the case for being the “masterminds” of the February 2020 riots, which had left 53 people dead and over 700 injured.

File Photo: PTI

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Thursday dismissed the bail plea of former JNU student Umar Khalid in a case of "larger conspiracy" in connection with the 2020 Delhi riots.

On Wednesday, the court had deferred its order on the bail plea for the third time as the judge said it was under correction.

A Delhi court on Thursday, March 24, dismissed the bail plea of Umar Khalid, an accused in a larger conspiracy case related to North East Delhi violence of February 2020.

— ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2022

The court had reserved the order on March 3 after hearing arguments from the counsel appearing for Khalid and the prosecution.

During the argument, the accused had told the court that the prosecution lacked the evidence to prove its case against him.

Meanwhile, opposing the bail plea, Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Amit Prasad argued on the relevance of the speech given by Umar Khalid in Amravati in February 2020.

According to news agency IANS, he said the bail application was rejected on February 11 while also pointing out that the announcement of Donald Trump visiting India came on the same day.

During the course of the hearing, Khalid's counsel termed the charge sheet a "work of fiction". He argued that the speech given by Khalid was about Gandhi, harmony, and the Constitution, and it is not a crime. 

Umar Khalid and several others have been booked under the anti-terror law UAPA in the case for being the “masterminds” of the February 2020 riots, which had left 53 people dead and over 700 injured.

The violence had erupted during the protests against the CAA and the National Register of Citizens.

Besides Umar Khalid, activist Khalid Saifi, JNU students Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita, Jamia Coordination Committee members Safoora Zargar, former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain and several others have also been booked under the stringent law in the case.

(With Inputs From Agencies)