By Anwarulhaq Baig
New Delhi–Former JNU student leader Umar Khalid on Wednesday withdrew his bail plea from the Supreme Court, after facing multiple adjournments. He is imprisoned for over three years and four months without a trial under UAPA in connection with the 2020 Delhi riots case.
Khalid’s lawyer, senior advocate Kapil Sibal informed a bench headed by Justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal that due to a “change in circumstances”, they wish to withdraw the bail application and “try their luck” in the trial court afresh. The bench granted the withdrawal of the bail plea, which had challenged the Delhi High Court’s October 18, 2022 decision denying bail to Khalid. While withdrawing the bail plea, advocate Sibal clarified to the apex court bench that he will still argue the separate writ petition filed by Khalid under Article 32 of the Constitution. This writ petition challenges the legality and constitutional validity of certain provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act or UAPA under which Khalid has been charged. Khalid’s writ petition contends that several clauses of UAPA violate the fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 14, 19 and 21 and are hence, ultra vires.
Speaking with Indiatomorrow.net, Umar Khalid’s father, Dr. SQR Ilyas, a prominent Muslim leader, explained their decision to withdraw the bail plea. He said they hoped for a fresh start in the trial court, given the numerous adjournments (over 10) and the lack of a significant hearing in the Supreme Court since May 2023. “The original trial itself is yet to start even after over three years of Umar’s arrest, prolonging the legal proceedings. Therefore, we are going back to the trial court again, hoping for bail soon and a speedy judgment,” he added.
Arrested by Delhi Police in September 2020 in connection with the February 2020 Northeast Delhi riots conspiracy case, 36-year-old Khalid has since been incarcerated as an undertrial without bail under the UAPA.
According to Dr. Ilyas, his plea has been listed for hearing 14 times since May 2023 when he filed a bail petition in the Supreme Court. However, not even a single substantive hearing was held, even as he continues to languish behind bars without trial. On most dates, the case was simply adjourned by the top court, usually at the request of one of the parties.
Dr. Ilyas provided details about the lengthy bail proceedings, mentioning that the lower court took approximately one and a half years to hear the case, while the High Court took six months to complete arguments and a further four months to pronounce the verdict on the bail plea.
Deeply troubled by the stalled trial in this case, Dr. Ilyas decried the alarming trend of numerous activists and individuals being detained for 3-4 years based on mere suspicion or unsubstantiated charges, left to languish behind bars awaiting their day in court. “This seems like a punishment in itself, being imprisoned indefinitely without trial,” Dr Ilyas said.
Khalid along with several other anti-CAA activists were arrested under the UAPA for their alleged role in the ‘conspiracy’ behind the Northeast Delhi riots in February 2020, which led to 53 deaths, mostly Muslims. Civil rights groups, both nationally and internationally, have widely criticized the misuse of draconian laws like UAPA to silence dissent, particularly against human rights defenders, activists, students, and intellectuals critical of the government, especially during the anti-CAA movement.
Umar Khalid is among 60 accused, including other student activists such as Devangana Kalita, Natasha Narwal, Asif Iqbal Tanha, and Gulfisha Fatima, in the larger conspiracy case linked to the 2020 Delhi riots. The chargesheet in the case includes Ishrat Jahan, Jamia Coordination Committee leaders Safoora Zargar, Meeran Haider, and Shifa-Ur-Rehman, former councillor Tahir Hussain, activist Khalid Saifi, and JNU student Sharjeel Imam. Zargar, Kalita, Narwal, Tanha, and Jahan have secured bail in the case, but Khalid and other accused remain incarcerated.
Umar Khalid was charged with sedition, engaging in terror activities, promoting enmity between groups, criminal conspiracy and attempt to murder along with relevant sections of Arms Act and Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.
In October 2022, the Delhi High Court denied him bail upholding the trial court’s observations made in March 2022 that the allegations against Khalid were prima facie true, meeting the stringent standards for bail under UAPA. Khalid then challenged this order in the Supreme Court in April 2023. His petition said he neither had any criminal role in the riots nor any conspiratorial connect with any other accused. The petition argued that Khalid has been imprisoned without bail for his political beliefs and ideological opposition to the ruling regime. It said his views, howsoever unacceptable to some, cannot be grounds for his perpetual incarceration.
Timeline of Umar Khalid’s Legal Proceedings:
• September 13, 2020: Umar Khalid arrested in connection with the northeast Delhi riots.
• January 2021: Delhi Police submits chargesheet in the case against Khalid.
• November 2020: FIR charges against Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam for conspiring and instigating the 2020 Delhi Riots.
• October 2020: Delhi Police files FIR 101/2020 related to vandalism and arson in Northeast Delhi’s Khajuri Khas.
• April 2021: Khalid receives bail from a Sessions Court against charges filed under FIR 101 but remains in custody for FIR 59.
• July 2021: Khalid files for bail before the Sessions Court.
• August 2021 – March 2022: Eight months of hearings on Khalid’s bail appeal in the Sessions Court.
• March 24, 2022: Delhi Sessions Court denies bail to Khalid, citing a premeditated conspiracy surroundingthe 2020 Delhi Riots.
• April 22, 2022: Khalid appeals the Sessions Court’s denial of bail before the Delhi High Court.
• April 29, 2022: Delhi HC decides to hear appeals of Khalid and Sharjeel Imam together.
• May 20, 2022: Delhi High Court debates Khalid’s ‘seditious’ language in a speech delivered before the riots.
• May 23, 2022: Khalid’s appeal ordered to be heard regularly before Delhi HC.
• May 30, 2022: Senior Advocate Trideep Pais highlights misrepresentation of facts in the chargesheet.
• July 22, 2022: Delhi HC rejects Umar Khalid’s plea for bail.
• August 18, 2022: Khalid moves to Karkardooma court seeking a 2-week interim bail.
• December 3, 2022: Karkardooma Court acquits Khalid in the ‘stone pelting’ case but remains detained in the broader conspiracy case.
• December 12, 2022: Khalid granted a week-long reprieve on bail under specific conditions, including a gag order.
• April 6, 2023: Khalid files a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court against the Delhi High Court’s bail rejection.
• May 18, 2023: SC issues notice to Delhi government, sets hearing after summer vacation.
• July 24, 2023: SC reschedules Khalid’s bail plea hearing to July 24, 2023.
• August 17, 2023: Khalid’s bail plea mentioned in the cause list but dropped from the list.
• September 5, 2023: Khalid’s bail plea adjourned due to lawyer’s unavailability.
• September 12, 2023: Hearing adjourned for a detailed examination; listed for hearing after one month.
• October 12, 2023: Adjourned citing “paucity of time”; next hearing on November 1, 2023.
• October 31, 2023: SC tags Khalid’s bail petition with other cases challenging the UAPA.
• November 29, 2023: Adjourned due to joint request; next hearing on January 2024.
• January 10, 2024: Hearing adjourned due to ongoing constitutional bench; final adjournment as per the court.
• January 24, 2024: Adjourned, listed “high on the board” for January 31, 2024.
• January 31, 2024: Adjourned for February 7, 2024.
• February 7, 2024: Adjourned; next hearing on February 14, 2024.
• February 14, 2024: Khalid withdraws his petition from the Supreme Court “due to change in circumstance,” plans to approach a trial court.
