IndiaPosted at: Nov 5 2026 10:58PM


2020 Delhi riots larger conspiracy case: Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam move SC for bail as one-year bar nears end

Parmod Kumar

New Delhi, Nov 5 (UNI) Former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) scholar Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam have moved the Supreme Court seeking bail in the 2020 Delhi riots larger conspiracy case, challenging the Delhi High Court’s September 30 order refusing them bail and contending that the one-year period fixed by the top court for renewal of their bail pleas is nearing completion.

They have submitted that the prosecution is unlikely to complete examination of the protected witnesses by January 5, 2027 — one year from the Supreme Court judgment which had denied them bail but permitted them to renew their pleas after examination of the protected witnesses or after one year, whichever was earlier.

By its January 5, 2026 judgment, the Supreme Court had granted bail to Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, Mohd Saleem Khan and Shadab Ahmed, but declined relief to Khalid and Imam, observing that they were prima facie attributed a central role and alleged to be ideological drivers of the conspiracy.

Khalid and Imam have separately approached the Supreme Court against the High Court’s refusal to grant them bail. Both have pointed to their prolonged incarceration as undertrials and the fact that the prosecution has yet to examine any witness.

Imam has stated in his plea that the chargesheet, filed on September 25, 2020, named 18 accused and cited about 900 witnesses, including 47 protected witnesses, but not one witness has so far been examined.

Khalid has similarly contended that no protected witness has been examined till date and that the period fixed by the Supreme Court for renewal of his bail plea is about to expire. He has also relied on his nearly six-year incarceration, invoking Article 21 and the right to a speedy trial.

While denying them bail, the Delhi High Court had said it was bound by judicial discipline and could not modify the Supreme Court’s January 5, 2026 order.

The legal position arising from that judgment has meanwhile been referred for consideration by a larger Bench.
On May 22, 2026, a bench comprising Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice P.B. Varale referred for authoritative determination questions concerning the January 5 ruling and its consistency with the law laid down by a three-judge Bench in the 2021 K.A. Najeeb judgment on bail under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

The reference was made while granting six months’ interim bail to two other accused in the case, Tasleem Ahmed and Khalid Saifi.
The bench directed that the issue be placed before the Chief Justice of India for the constitution of an appropriate larger Bench, particularly to clarify the interpretation and application of Section 43D(5) of the UAPA.

The May 22 reference followed observations made on May 18 by another two-judge Bench comprising Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan while granting bail to Syed Iftikhar Andrabi.
That Bench had expressed reservations over the correctness of the January 5 judgment insofar as it concerned Khalid and Imam, observing that it appeared inconsistent with the principles laid down in K.A. Najeeb.

The 2021 judgment had held that prolonged incarceration and delay in completion of trial could justify grant of bail despite the stringent provisions of the UAPA.

The May 22 Bench clarified that the January 2026 judgment had not disregarded K.A. Najeeb, but said that differences arising from the subsequent observations of a coordinate Bench required authoritative resolution by a larger Bench.
It also made clear that the reference was not intended to dilute the authority of the K.A. Najeeb ruling.

The Delhi riots conspiracy case relates to the communal violence in North-East Delhi in February 2020 during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, in which more than 50 people were killed.
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Tags: #2020 Delhi riots larger conspiracy case: Umar Khalid# Sharjeel Imam move SC for bail as one-year bar nears end
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