2020 Delhi riots ‘larger conspiracy’ case: Sharjeel Imam, Umar Khalid move Supreme Court seeking bail

Activists Sharjeel Imam and Umar Khalid, accused in the February 2020 Northeast Delhi riots “larger conspiracy” case, have moved the Supreme Court against a Delhi High Court order that refused them bail.

The two stated that the prosecution failed to examine protected witnesses and that the one-year embargo imposed by the apex court is nearing its end.

On January 5, the Supreme Court, while granting bail to the other accused, had asked Imam and Khalid to seek bail either upon completion of protected witnesses’ examination or expiry of one year, whichever is earlier.

The Delhi High Court on September 30 refused to grant bail to them stating that it was bound by “judicial discipline” and could not modify the January 5 order.

Imam and Khalid had moved the HC challenging a trial court’s July 4 decision rejecting their bail pleas for the third time since their arrest.

The trial court, like the HC, had refused them bail, saying it had “no option but to follow” the Supreme Court’s January 5 order and, therefore, could neither entertain their plea nor grant any relief.

While denying bail to the two activists, the SC had said in January that their roles were distinct from the other accused, and that they were the “ideological drivers” of the alleged conspiracy.

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A total of 18 accused face trial in the case lodged under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the prosecution has cited more than 900 witnesses. There are about 50 protected witnesses.

While Khalid, in his plea said that none of the protected witnesses had been examined and the one-year embargo was about to expire, Imam submitted that despite spending over six years as an undertrial, the prosecution had failed to examine even a single witness.

Khalid and Imam, along with 16 others, were booked under the UAPA in the “larger conspiracy” case. The two have been deemed the “masterminds” of the alleged conspiracy behind the riots which left 53 dead and 700 injured.

According to the Delhi Police Special Cell, the 18 accused had orchestrated a “larger conspiracy”, which eventually led to the violence which rocked the Capital in 2020.

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The case of the Special Cell was that the riots were the result of a months-long “deep-rooted” conspiracy allegedly hatched after the Citizenship Amendment Bill got a nod from the Cabinet in December 2019. The “conspiracy” here involved the creation of 23 protest sites which operated round the clock in “Muslim majority areas” close to mosques and main roads. The main goal of the accused, the Special Cell claimed, was to “escalate” the protest to a chakka jam “once critical mass is generated” when then US President Donald Trump visited Delhi.

On March 6, an FIR was lodged. From September 16, 2020 to June 7, 2023, a total of five chargesheets were filed in this case.

Currently, the case is at the stage of arguments on charge. To prove their case, the Special Cell relied mainly on WhatsApp chats through which the protests were allegedly planned, CCTV footage and the statements of various protected witnesses.