Travesty of justice: Delhi HC dismisses bail pleas of Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, 7 others
Delhi: The Delhi High Court today dismissed the bail pleas of activists Sharjeel Imam, Umar Khalid, and seven others, who have been in jail for over five years over what the Delhi police allege their role in the conspiracy behind the Delhi riots of 2020.
According to Kashmir Media Service, a division bench of Justice Naveen Chawla and Justice Shalinder Kaur pronounced the verdict in the bail pleas of nine activists — Sharjeel Imam, Umar Khalid, Athar Khan, Khalid Saifi, Mohammad Saleem Khan, Shifa-ur-Rehman, Meeran Haider, Gulfisha Fatima, and Shadab Ahmed — all of whom have been languishing in jail since 2020 under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
The activists had appealed against the rejection of their bail by trial courts.Their prolonged incarceration have been marked by multiple appeals and subsequent postponements and rejections by courts, in what rights defenders worldwide have decried as a travesty of justice.
On the same day, a separate bench of the Delhi high court, comprising Justice Subramonium Prasad and Justice Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar also denied bail to co-accused Tasleem Ahmed. “The appeal is dismissed,” a division bench said. Ahmed was arrested on June 19, 2020.
The bail rejections come as family members, rights groups, and many others had hoped the activists would be released today, insisting that the case against them is fabricated.
Renowned Journalist, Arfa Khanum Sherwani while posting on her X account wrote that reason for denial of bail for Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Gulfisha Fatima, Khalid Saifi, Meeran Haider & others is that they all were Muslims. “Delhi HC verdict in riots case breaks the last thread of faith in fairness in India,” She wrote.
The highly controversial FIR was registered by Delhi Police’s Special Cell under various offences under the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Questions continue to hover over the Delhi police’s partisan role in investigating the violence.
Much of the Delhi police’s case rests on activists’ presence or participation in WhatsApp groups during the time of the India-wide protests against Citizenship Amendment Act.
Umar Khalid’s counsel Senior Advocate Trideep Pais had submitted that merely being on WhatsApp groups, without sending any message, is no criminality. Imam, who was arrested before the riots took place, was even granted statutory bail in the case in which the Delhi police alleged that he made seditious speeches, which was the basis of his arrest.
Notably, the 2020 Delhi riots were multiple waves of bloodshed, property destruction, and rioting in North East Delhi, beginning on 23 February 2020 and brought about chiefly by Hindu mobs attacking Muslims. Dozens, mostly Muslims, were killed and hundreds injured. The violence erupted after a mob led by a BJP leader targeted a peaceful sit-in protesting the controversial CAA in New Delhi.
