The Delhi High Court on Tuesday, September 2, dismissed the bail pleas of activists Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, and several others accused in the alleged “larger conspiracy” case linked to the 2020 Delhi riots. The bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Shalinder Kaur, while pronouncing the order, stated that all the appeals were dismissed. The court had earlier reserved its verdict on July 9.
Along with Khalid and Imam, the bail petitions of seven other accused—activist Gulfisha Fatima, United Against Hate (UAH) founder Khalid Saifi, Athar Khan, Mohd Saleem, Shifa ur Rehman, Meeran Haider, and Shadaab Ahmed—were also rejected. In a separate order, another bench of the Delhi High Court, comprising Justices Subramonium Prasad and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar, denied bail to co-accused Tasleem Ahmad.
The case stems from the communal violence that broke out in Northeast Delhi on February 23, 2020, following clashes between groups over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The riots, which continued for days, resulted in the deaths of 53 people and left hundreds injured, marking one of the deadliest episodes of violence in the capital in recent years.
