NEWS PRISM BUREAU
New Delhi, May 28, 2024: A Delhi court today rejected the bail plea of former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Umar Khalid in the larger conspiracy case related to the 2020 Delhi riots. Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Bajpai dismissed Khalid’s application seeking regular bail.
Khalid, who has been in custody since September 2020 under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, had withdrawn his bail plea from the Supreme Court in February 2024 to pursue it in the trial court citing a change in circumstances.
Arguing for Khalid’s bail, his counsel Senior Advocate Tridip Pais questioned the prosecution’s evidence, stating that “no terror case was made out against him” and that his name was merely repeated in the charge sheet. Pais contended that simply sharing messages or meeting with others did not constitute a criminal or terror act.
However, the Special Public Prosecutor opposed bail, calling Khalid’s plea “frivolous and baseless.” The prosecution alleged that Khalid was attempting to influence proceedings through narratives on media and social media. They cited posts on platforms like Twitter by activists and journalists using hashtags like #freeUmarKhalid.
Khalid faces charges of criminal conspiracy, rioting, unlawful assembly and offenses under the UAPA related to the 2020 Delhi riots. The violence which erupted after the protest against CAA/NRC had led to over 50 deaths mostly Muslims.