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New Delhi: Highlighting the central and formative role attributed to accused Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in the alleged conspiracy behind the 2020 Delhi riots, the Supreme Court of India on Monday dismissed their bail pleas, even as it granted bail to five other accused in the case. A Bench comprising Justices Aravind Kumar and NV Anjaria held that the accused could not be treated alike on the question of culpability.
“The record discloses that all the appellants do not stand on equal footing as regards culpability. The hierarchy of participation requires the court to assess each application individually. Article 21 requires the State to justify prolonged pre-trial custody. This exercise does not dismantle the prosecution’s case of conspiracy. Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam stand on a qualitatively different footing as compared to other accused,” the Bench observed while rejecting their bail pleas.
The top court, however, granted bail to five other accused—Gulfisha Fatima, Meera Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, Md Saleem Khan and Shadab Ahmed—taking note of the length of their incarceration and the individual roles attributed to them.
The verdict came after the court had reserved its order on December 10 on separate bail petitions filed by the seven accused, all of whom have been in custody for over five years. They were booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967, as well as multiple provisions of the Indian Penal Code, including criminal conspiracy, sedition, promoting enmity between groups, and making statements conducing to public mischief.
The prosecution has alleged that the accused were the “masterminds” of a “larger conspiracy” linked to the February 2020 Delhi riots, which coincided with the visit of then US President Donald Trump to India. The violence, which erupted amid protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the proposed National Register of Citizens, left 53 people dead and over 700 injured.
During the hearing, the Delhi Police strongly opposed the bail pleas, describing the riots as an “orchestrated, pre-planned and well-designed” attack on the sovereignty of India and terming it a “regime change operation” carried out under the guise of peaceful protest.
The case has also drawn international attention. Recently, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani wrote a letter expressing support for Umar Khalid. At the same time, a group of US lawmakers urged Indian Ambassador to the US Vinay Kwatra to ensure a “fair and timely” trial in accordance with international law.
With Monday’s ruling, the Supreme Court has drawn a clear distinction between the alleged principal conspirators and other accused, underlining that prolonged pre-trial detention must be weighed against individual roles—without, however, diluting the prosecution’s overarching conspiracy case.
