Along with Sharjil Imam and Gulfisha Fatima, now Umar Khalid has also approached the Supreme Court for bail in the big conspiracy case of Delhi riots. Khalid has challenged the September 2 order of Delhi High Court in which he and eight others were refused to grant bail.

Omar Khalid has filed a petition in the Supreme Court for bail through advocate N Sai Vinod today (Wednesday 10 September). Khalid has challenged the Delhi High Court order of September 2 in the petition in which Shazil Imam, Athar Khan, Khalid Saifi, Mohammad Salim Khan, Shifa Ur Rehman, Miran Haider, Gulfisha Fatima and Shadab Ahmed were refused to bail.

What did the High Court say

The High Court had dismissed the bail petitions and said that violence is not freedom of expression in the name of protest. Justice Naveen Chawla and Justice Shalinder Kaur Bench said in the judgment, “No conspiracy violence can be allowed by citizens under the guise of protest or protest.” Such actions should be controlled by state machinery, as they do not come under the purview of expression, speech and union.

In its order, the High Court said that prima facie, the role of Imam and Omar Khalid in the entire conspiracy is serious, who gave inflammatory speeches on communal grounds to mobilize the members of the Muslim community on a large scale. The court said that the trial needs to move naturally, as the prosecution made in haste will be harmful for both the accused and the state.

53 people were killed

These riots took place in February 2020 after clashes about the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). In these riots, 53 people died and more than 700 people were injured. Omar Khalid, Sharjil Imam and many other accused were booked under sections of the UAPA and the then Indian Penal Code for the alleged mastermind of the February 2020 riots.

Omar Khalid was arrested in September 2020 and he was accused of several other offenses under criminal conspiracy, riot, illegal gathering as well as the illegal activity Prevention Act (UAPA). He is in jail since then.