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New Delhi, Nov 2 (IANS) The Supreme Court will resume hearing on Monday the bail plea of student leaders Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Gulfisha Fatima and other activists accused of an alleged “larger conspiracy” behind the 2020 North East Delhi riots. They are behind bars under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
According to the cause list published on the apex court website, a bench of Justices Arvind Kumar and NV Anjaria will continue hearing the arguments of co-accused Meeran Haider, Mohammad Salim Khan and Shifa Ur Rehman and Delhi Police on November 3.
In the earlier hearing, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Umar Khalid, had argued that the prosecution has continuously delayed the trial and is now trying to put the blame on the accused. Sibal argued, “They say it is I who is taking time and delaying the matter while the facts say otherwise.”
Sibal said, “Of the 751 FIRs related to the riots, Khalid’s name was in only one. He (Khalid) was not even in Delhi at the time of the riots.”
He relied on the bail orders granted to co-accused Asif Iqbal Tanha, Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal to argue that none of the acts committed by Khalid fell within the definition of “terrorist act” under the UAPA.
Sibal said, “He has been granted bail. Umar Khalid was not even present in Delhi. The evidence and witnesses are the same.”
Senior advocate Siddharth Dave, appearing for Sharjeel Imam, argued that the prosecution took more than three years to complete the investigation and kept filing supplementary charge sheets till September 2024.
“The trial could not proceed because it was said that the investigation was ongoing. So out of the five years, three years were spent in the investigation,” Dave told a bench led by Justice Kumar.
He said Imam had been in custody since January 25, 2020, about a month before the riots broke out in late February. Dave said, “If I have been in custody since January, what role could I have in the riots in February? My speeches were in December 2019 – two months before the riots.”
Responding to the top court’s question on the nature of the speech, Dave said, “I had called for chakka jam as part of the protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). There was no call for violence.”
Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Gulfisha Fatima, said the only charge against her was setting up a protest site.
“There were no incidents of violence at those sites. There is no oral or documentary evidence to show that any violent material was present where I was,” Singhvi said.
Earlier, the Delhi High Court had rejected the bail pleas of Sharjeel Imam, Umar Khalid and several other accused in the “larger conspiracy” case of the 2020 city riots.
–IANS
PDS/PGH