NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it would hear on May 22 the pleas of two 2020 Delhi riots accused, Abdul Khalid Saifi and Tasleem Ahmed, challenging the high court order denying them bail.
A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and P B Varale said that even though it was inclined to grant bail to them, it would first hear the Delhi Police’s submissions regarding a recent judgment by a coordinate bench on the grant of bail.
The court deferred the hearing after ASG S V Raju, appearing for the Delhi Police, sought time to make submissions. The petitions challenged the September 2, 2025, order of the Delhi High Court denying them bail.
Raju said he would like to make a submission while taking into account a recent judgment by another bench, comprising Justice B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan, where it has questioned the verdict denying bail to activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case.
Earlier, on Tuesday, Raju had told the SC bench that the question of whether long jail time and delay in trial can outweigh statutory bars on bails under stringent laws like the UAPA may need to be decided by a larger bench of judges. He pointed out that two coordinate benches of the apex court had delivered conflicting decisions.
While referring to a judgment delivered on Monday by the bench headed by Justice B V Nagarathna which emphatically held that “bail is the rule and jail is an exception” even in prosecutions under the UAPA, Raju submitted that the ruling may not have laid down the correct position in law.
The bench posted the matter for hearing on May 22 and asked Raju to make submissions on that date. Senior advocate Rebecca John appeared for Saifi while advocates Mehmood Pracha and RHS Sikander appeared for Ahmed.
Also in court
‘Act against fake higher edu institutes’
The Delhi HC on Wednesday called upon the Centre to act against the mushrooming of fake higher education institutions. A bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia said that students attracted to such institutions usually belong to small towns, who but end up with degrees that don’t make them employable.
Chadha moves HC for personality rights
BJP MP Raghav Chadha on Wednesday moved the Delhi HC seeking protection of his personality rights, including his name, picture, and voice, from unauthorised use. The petition is likely to come up for hearing before Justice Subramonium Prasad on Thursday. Chadha has sought an injunction against AI-made deepfakes, morphed visuals, etc.
