Delhi HC’s reasons for dismissing Umar Khalid’s bail plea

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on 18 October dismissed the bail plea of  former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student and activist Umar Khalid in the Delhi Riots ‘conspiracy’ case, saying it found no merit in the appeal for bail.

A division bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Rajnish Bhatnagar passed the order. “We don’t find any merit in bail appeal, appeal is dismissed,” the Court ordered.

On September 9, the HC had reserved its verdict after hearing arguments from Senior Advocate Trideep Pais and Special Public Prosecutor Amit Prasad, reported by the Bar and Bench.

Umar Khalid was arrested on September 13, 2020. He is facing charges under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Khalid has been in jail for 700 days and his repeated appeals for bails were rejected.

Umar Khalid’s father SQR Ilyas was quoted by the Quint as saying: “This is very unfortunate. Nothing (no evidence) is there against Umar. We will definitely be approaching the Supreme Court to seek bail for him now.”

Several Muslim youth, including Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and others were booked under the anti-terror law and the Indian Penal Code for allegedly being the “masterminds” of the protests and riots in northeast Delhi.