The Supreme Court deferred to September 19 the hearing of bail pleas filed by Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Meeran Haider, and Gulfisha Fatima in the Delhi riots “larger conspiracy” case, citing late receipt of case files.
The petitioners, who have been in custody for over five years, are challenging the Delhi High Court’s September 2 order rejecting their bail applications in charges under UAPA and IPC.
The Supreme Court on September 12 adjourned the hearing of bail petitions filed by Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Meeran Haider and Gulfisha Fatima in the Delhi riots “larger conspiracy” case to September 19.
The matter came before a bench of Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice N.V. Anjaria. Justice Kumar noted the difficulty in taking up the case immediately, pointing out that the supplementary list files were received only at 2:30 a.m, Live Law reported.
The petitions challenge the September 2 Delhi High Court judgment that had dismissed their bail pleas. That ruling was delivered by a division bench of Justice Naveen Chawla and Justice Shalinder Kaur.
The petitioners—student activists at the forefront of protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act in 2019–2020—face charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Indian Penal Code for allegedly planning the “larger conspiracy” behind the communal violence in Delhi in February 2020. They have been in custody for over five years.
