New Delhi: Noting that a prima facie case under the UAPA is attracted, the Supreme Court denied bail to student activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case.
The bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N. V. Anjaria, while pronoucing the operative part of the judgement, however, granted bail with 12 conditions to Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa ur Rehman, Mohammad Saleem Khan and Shadab Ahmed.
On Monday, the top court noted two main propositions of prolonged incarceration and Article 21 (protection of life and personal liberty) of the Constitution while pronouncing the verdict in the bail applications filed by Khalid, Imam, Gulfisha, Haider, Rehman, Ahmed and Khan in the larger conspiracy case in relation to the 2020 North East Delhi riots.
“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 SC bench said.
It said that each appeal was individually examined as all accused do not stand as equal, maintaining that there is hierarchy and reiterating that it examined the bail pleas in an “accused specific manner”.
Before the Supreme Court, all seven of them had challenged the Delhi High Court’s 2 September verdict denying them bail, which put their alleged roles as “grave” and that it indicated a coordinated conspiracy behind the Delhi riots.
The violence had erupted during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), which left 53 people dead and over 700 injured.
Clarifying the scope of its order, the bench observed that the grant of bail does not amount to a dilution of the allegations levelled against them.
It directed that the five accused be released on bail subject to a set of stringent conditions. In the event of any violation, the trial court, the bench added, would be at liberty to cancel the bail after hearing the accused.
(Edited by Tony Rai)