Sharjeel Imam, Umar Khalid Move Fresh Bail Pleas In Delhi Riots Conspiracy Case After SC Rejection

New Delhi, Jun 13 (PTI) Activists Sharjeel Imam and Umar Khalid have moved fresh bail applications before a Delhi court in the larger conspiracy case related to the 2020 northeast Delhi riots. The applications argued that there has been no significant progress in the trial despite the Supreme Court dismissing the earlier plea over six months ago. The fresh pleas were filed before Additional Sessions Judge Sumedh Saini, who sought a response from the Delhi Police on Friday and listed the matter for hearing on July 4. In his plea, Imam said he has remained in custody for the last six years and that there have been no substantial developments in the case following the Supreme Court's January 5 verdict rejecting his bail plea. The apex court in January refused bail to Khalid and Imam in the 2020 Delhi riots larger conspiracy case, while granting relief to the five other accused. A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria then said that there was a prima facie case against Khalid and Imam under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), and observed that all accused in the case did not stand on the same footing in terms of the "hierarchy of participation". It granted bail to activists Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, Mohd Saleem Khan and Shadab Ahmad. Khalid, Imam and several others were booked under the UAPA and provisions of the IPC on allegations that they were the "masterminds" behind the February 2020 riots in northeast Delhi. The violence, which broke out amid protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC), had left 53 people dead and over 700 injured. The accused had approached the Supreme Court challenging a September 2 Delhi High Court order denying them bail in the conspiracy case. (This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)