NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday decided to consider on September 19 bail pleas by former JNU students Sharjeel Imam, Umar Khalid and others who were arrested under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act in a case for a larger conspiracy in 2020 Delhi riots.
The accused assailed the Delhi High Court order of September 2, 2025, rejecting their bail applications.
When the matter came up, a bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria said, "We got the case files and supplementary list late last night and didn’t get time to read."
The court scheduled the matter for consideration on September 19.
Senior advocates Kapil Sibal, A M Singhvi, C U Singh, Siddharth Dave appeared for the petitioners accused.
Khalid and others have been in jail since 2020 in connection with the riots which had left 53 people dead and over 700 injured.
The High Court on September 2, 2025 dismissed the bail petitions.
A division bench had noted the nature of the allegations, and specifically the submission by the State that the present is not a case of regular protest or riot matter, but rather a premeditated, well-orchestrated conspiracy to commit unlawful activities threatening the unity, integrity, and sovereignty of India.
The HC had said, in view of submissions, it became the arduous task of the court to strike a balance between individual rights and the interests of the nation, as well as the safety and security of the general public at large. "Therefore, these appeals do not succeed,'' the bench had said.
The court also noted the probative value of the evidence against the appellants Imam and Khalid, ''prima facie and at this stage, cannot be branded as weak''.
It also rejected the arguments for parity with co-accused Devangana Kalita, Natasha Narwal, and Asif Iqbal Tanha, who were earlier granted bail.
The role of the appellants Sharjeel and Khalid is prima facie grave in the entire conspiracy, having delivered inflammatory speeches on communal lines to instigate a mass mobilization of members of the Muslim Community, the bench said.
The court had then also dismissed similar bail plea by other accused Athar Khan, Abdul Khalid Saifi, Mohd Saleem Khan, Shifa Ur Rehman, Meeran Haider, Gulfisha Fatima and Shadab Ahmed.
Sharjeel Imam was arrested on January 28, 2020 by the Delhi Police’s Crime Branch from Bihar’s Jehanabad in a sedition case for allegedly making inflammatory speeches in the Jamia Millia Islamia University and Aligarh Muslim University.
Khalid has been in jail since his arrest by the Delhi Police on September 14, 2020.
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