The Supreme Court of India agreed to hear Abdul Khalid Saifi’s plea challenging a Delhi High Court order that denied him bail in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case.
The court made it clear that Saifi cannot claim parity with its January verdict that granted bail to five co-accused, stating all accused do not stand on the same footing.
Saifi’s plea has been tagged with a similar pending petition, while the Delhi Police has been asked to file its response.
Supreme Court to Hear Plea Against Denial of Bail in 2020 Delhi Riots Case
Top court issues notice to Delhi Police, rejects parity claim with earlier bail order
Summary
The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear a plea challenging a Delhi High Court's order denying bail to an accused in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case.
The Delhi Police received a notice from a bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and Prasanna B. Varale asking for their answer to the plea submitted by the accused Abdul Khalid Saifi.
The accused cannot claim parity with the top court's decision from last month, which granted bail to five co-accused in the case, the bench said during the hearing.
"If you are claiming parity on our judgment, we will straightaway say no," the bench told the counsel appearing for the petitioner.
The bench tagged Saifi's plea with a separate pending petition filed by another accused who was also denied bail by the high court.
Saifi has challenged the high court's September 2 last year verdict, which refused to grant him bail in the case.
The top court denied bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case on January 5, noting that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the accusations against them were prima facie true. However, it granted relief to five other accused individuals, stating that they are not all on equal footing.
The Supreme Court granted bail to activists Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, Mohd Saleem Khan, and Shadab Ahmad, but with 11 restrictions and a warning that any abuse of their freedom will result in their release being revoked.
53 people were killed, and over 700 were injured in the February 2020 riots in northeast Delhi, which started during demonstrations against the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).
Khalid, Imam and others were booked for the alleged offences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and provisions of the Indian Penal Code for allegedly being the "masterminds" of the riots. The accused has denied the allegations.
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