The Delhi High Court has listed for September 30 the bail pleas of activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in the UAPA case concerning the alleged larger conspiracy behind the February 2020 northeast Delhi riots, after the Delhi Police sought an adjournment.
A bench of Justice Prathiba M Singh and Justice Dinesh Bhatt deferred the hearing after Special Public Prosecutor Madhukar Pandey told the court that Additional Solicitor General SV Raju was unavailable because of health reasons. “Matter is adjourned to September 30,” the bench said, according to the report.
The case relates to violence that erupted in northeast Delhi during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, and the proposed National Register of Citizens. The riots left 53 people dead and more than 700 injured, according to the report. Delhi Police’s Special Cell is investigating allegations that Khalid, Imam and other accused persons were involved in a wider conspiracy behind the violence.
Khalid and Imam were arrested in September and August 2020 respectively. They have been booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, or UAPA. The Delhi Police has opposed their bail pleas, describing the two as “masterminds” of the riots and arguing that they cannot seek bail on parity with other accused persons.
Police have also relied on earlier Supreme Court observations categorising Khalid and Imam as having “command authority” and referring to their “risk profiles” while justifying their continued detention. The police has further argued that the latest bail pleas are affected by the Supreme Court’s January 5 order, which said they could seek release after the examination of protected witnesses was completed or after one year, whichever was earlier.
The accused had approached the High Court after a trial court rejected their bail applications for the third time on July 4. In that order, the trial court said it had “no option but to follow” the Supreme Court’s January 5 order and could neither entertain the plea nor grant relief.
The High Court had denied bail to Khalid and Imam on September 2, 2025. On January 5, the Supreme Court upheld that decision but granted relief to co-accused Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, Mohammad Saleem Khan and Shadab Ahmad. The Supreme Court bench of Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice NV Anjaria had observed that there was a prima facie case against Khalid and Imam under the UAPA.
The court on Monday also deferred the bail hearing of co-accused Tahir Hussain, a former AAP councillor, and listed it for November. Hussain, activist Khalid Saifi and others have also been booked in connection with the alleged larger conspiracy case.
The Supreme Court in May granted six months’ interim bail to co-accused Abdul Khalid Saifi and Tasleem Ahmad while referring the issue of prolonged incarceration of undertrials under the UAPA, in the context of stringent bail requirements, to a larger bench. The next scheduled hearing on Khalid and Imam’s pleas before the Delhi High Court is September 30.
