The Delhi High Court on Friday sought the Delhi Police’s response on a bail plea filed by student activist Sharjeel Imam in a UAPA case linked to the alleged larger conspiracy behind the February 2020 northeast Delhi riots.
A bench of Justices Prathiba M Singh and Vikas Mahajan issued notice on Imam’s appeal challenging the trial court’s July 4 order rejecting his second regular bail application.
The court granted the police two weeks to file its reply and posted the matter for hearing on August 27.
Imam was arrested on August 25, 2020, and booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for allegedly being among the “masterminds” behind the riots that claimed 53 lives and injured more than 700 people.
The violence broke out in northeast Delhi in February 2020 during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, and the National Register of Citizens.
While dismissing Imam’s bail plea, the trial court said it had “no option but to follow” the Supreme Court’s January 5 order and could neither entertain the application nor grant relief.
The court also held that the bail plea was not maintainable before it.
In his appeal before the High Court, Imam argued that the trial court had erred by refusing to independently consider his regular bail plea. He also pointed out that even after nearly six years, the trial proceedings had not moved beyond the stage of arguments on charges.
On January 5, the Supreme Court had denied bail to Imam and Umar Khalid in the larger conspiracy case while granting relief to co-accused Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, Mohammad Saleem Khan and Shadab Ahmad.
A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria had observed that there was a prima facie case against Khalid and Imam under the UAPA, adding that all accused could not be treated equally due to the “hierarchy of participation”.
(With inputs from PTI)