February 2020 riots: Delhi High Court to hear Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam's pleas on Jan 7

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court will on January 7, 2025, hear the bail pleas of activists Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and others accused in a UAPA case connected to February 2020 riots.

A bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Shalinder Kaur deferred the hearing after the Delhi police counsel said the case would be argued by additional solicitor general S V Raju, who was unavailable on Friday.

"How do we adjourn bail matters like this? Last time also these were heard by a bench and released," the bench said.

The court said it would hear the matter on the very first of its re-opening post the winter break.

The senior counsel for Khalid Saifi said the adjournment couldn't be at the cost of the accused, adding, "He has been in custody for almost five years." Khalid, Imam and several others were booked under the anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and provisions of the IPC for allegedly being the "masterminds" of the February 2020 riots, which left 53 people dead and over 700 injured.

The violence took place during the protests against the CAA and NRC.

They have sought bail from the court on the grounds of long period of incarceration and parity with other co-accused who are on bail.

Most bail pleas were filed in 2022 and heard by different benches from time to time.

All accused were arrested by the Delhi police on different days following the communal violence in February 2020.

Umar Khalid approached the high court in 2024 seeking bail for the second time, after the HC rejected a similar plea in October, 2022.