The Supreme Court on Monday deffered hearing petition for bail filed by former JNU student Umar Khalid till January 31.
The matter was listed before the bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Ujjal Bhuyan.
The matter is posted for January 31 since a different bench combination is assembling during the post-lunch session.
Earlier, the apex court had adjourned till January 24 the hearing on Khalid's bail application in a Delhi riots case.
Khalid had approached the top court in April 2023 against the Delhi High Court order denying him bail. In May 2023, the apex court issued a notice to the Delhi government and sought a response to Khalid’s petition within six weeks. Khalid's hearing has since seen at least 10 adjournments and one recusal from a judge.
Read more : Umar Khalid's Bail Plea Adjourned Again: A Timeline Of Court Hearings
In March 2022, a Delhi Sessions Court denied bail to Umar Khalid after hearing his case for nearly 8 months. Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat said a preliminary assessment of the case showed a premeditated conspiracy surrounding the 2020 Delhi Riots that Khalid was involved in.
In April 2022, Khalid appealed against the Session court’s order before the Delhi High Court.
On October 18 2022, a Delhi High Court bench comprising Justices Siddharth Mridul and Rajnesh Bhatnagar rejected Khalid’s plea for bail. The bench observed that the prosecution’s case and the chargesheet made out a prima facie case against Khalid. Saying that Khalid was in constant touch with other co-accused and Khalid's act prima facie qualified as “terrorist act” under the UAPA, the high court denied him bail.
In April 2023, Khalid filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) against the Delhi High Court order denying him bail in the Supreme Court.
In May 2023, a divisional bench comprising Justices AS Bopanna and Hima Kohli heard Khalid's petition and issued a notice to the Delhi government seeking a response within six weeks.
Charges Against Khalid:
Khalid has been charged under the IPC, 1967 Arms Act, and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Rioting (Sec. 147 IPC),
Rioting with a deadly weapon (Sec. 148 IPC),
Murder (Sec. 302 IPC),
Attempted murder (Sec. 307 IPC),
Sedition (Sec. 124A IPC), for promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony (Sec. 153A IPC),
Unlawful activities (Sec. 13 UAPA),
Terrorist acts (Sec. 16 UAPA),
Raising funds for terrorist acts (Sec. 17 UAPA),
Conspiracy (Sec. 18 UAPA)