SC adjourns till next week bail pleas of Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam

New Delhi, Sep 12 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Friday adjourned the hearing on the bail pleas of Sharjeel Imam, Umar Khalid, Meeran Haider, and Gulfisha Fatima -- all accused in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case -- till next week.

A Bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N.V. Anjaria expressed difficulty in taking up the batch of special leave petitions (SLPs), noting that the case files had been circulated very late the previous night.

Taking note of the submissions that the accused, booked under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), have challenged the Delhi High Court’s refusal to grant them bail, the Justice Kumar-led Bench directed that the batch of petitions be listed for hearing on September 19.

Earlier, the Delhi High Court had denied bail to several activists and student leaders in connection with the alleged larger conspiracy behind the North-East Delhi riots. In its order passed on September 2, a Bench of Justices Shalinder Kaur and Navin Chawla observed, prima facie, that there was sufficient material on record to suggest that Imam and Khalid had masterminded the conspiracy.

The Justice Kaur-led Bench noted that Khalid and Imam had delivered inflammatory speeches on February 24, 2020, coinciding with the then US President Donald Trump's State visit, which the prosecution alleged was deliberately timed to trigger riots on February 23 - 24 and draw international attention.

"The alleged inflammatory and provocative speeches delivered by the appellants, when considered in totality, prima facie indicate their role in the alleged conspiracy," the Delhi High Court said.

In relation to Meeran Haider, it noted that she allegedly provided funds to the Alumni Association of Jamia Millia Islamia (AAJMI), where meetings of the JCC (JMI Coordination Committee) were held.

The Justice Kaur-led bench further noted the prosecution's submission that the completion of the investigation against Haider did not constitute a material change in circumstances to justify bail, citing pending witness examination and the gravity of the alleged conspiracy.

According to the prosecution, Gulfisha Fatima used code words to instruct protesters to undertake actions in furtherance of the alleged conspiracy and received funds for it. The February 2020 Delhi riots, which broke out during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), left 53 people dead and more than 700 injured.

--IANS

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