The Supreme Court on Friday postponed the hearing on the bail petitions of activists Umar Khalid, Sharjil Imam, Gulfisha Fatima and Miran Haider in the UAPA case related to the alleged conspiracy of riots in Delhi in February 2020.A bench of Justice Arvind Kumar and Justice Manmohan postponed the hearing on the petitions.
The High Court refused to grant him bail in the alleged conspiracy related to the 2020 Delhi riots. A case under UAPA was registered against all of them.
On September 2, the Delhi High Court refused to grant bail to nine people, including Omar Khalid and Sharjil Imam. The court had said that a conspiracy for violence in the name of demonstration or protest cannot be allowed to be allowed. Apart from Khalid and Imam, people whose bail petitions were dismissed include Mohammad Salim Khan, Shifa-ur-Rahman, Athar Khan, Miran Haider, Abdul Khalid Saifi, Gulfisha Fatima and Shadab Ahmed. The bail plea of another accused Taslim Ahmed was also rejected by the second bench of the Delhi High Court on September 2.
The High Court said in its order that the constitution gives citizens the right to perform and agitate, but it is valid as long as it is peaceful, restrained and without weapons. Any such performance should be under the purview of law. The High Court also said that giving speeches in public meetings and performing peaceful performance is a fundamental right under Article 19 (1) (A) of the Constitution and cannot be prevented completely. But this right is not completely free and proper limitations can be imposed on it. The court also said that if people are given full right to perform without any limit, it will harm the constitutional system and will affect the law and order of the country.
Omar Khalid, Sharjil Imam and all other accused have been booked under sections of UAPA and Indian Danj Code (IPC). They are alleged to have conspired for the riots in February 2020. 53 people died in these riots and more than 700 people were injured. These riots were furious during the ongoing protests against CAA-NRC. All these accused have dismissed the allegations against them. He has been in jail since 2020 and demanded bail in the High Court after bail was rejected from the lower court.
