‘Will consider granting relief’: Supreme Court on bail plea of two 2020 Delhi riots accused

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday indicated that it would in all probability grant bail to two accused in the 2020 Delhi riots cases, while agreeing to consider Delhi police's plea to refer the matter to the larger bench in view of inconsistent rulings for such a relief in UAPA cases.

A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and Prasanna B Varale said it was inclined to give relief to the petitioners and would pass the order either during the day or on May 25.

Senior advocate Rebecca John appeared for Abdul Khalid Saifi, while advocate Mehmood Pracha represented Tasleem Ahmad.

The bench also agreed to examine the Delhi Police’s submission that the question of law regarding grant of bail under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) needed to be referred to a larger bench in view of apparently conflicting decisions by coordinate benches.

On May 20, the apex court had indicated a prima facie view in favour of the accused during the bail hearing.

The court had earlier expressed reservations over a previous judgment that declined bail to activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in the same conspiracy case.

The matter revolved around the interpretation of Section 43-D(5) of the UAPA, which imposed restrictions on granting bail in terror-related cases.

On May 18, a separate bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan had strongly emphasised that bail remains the rule even in UAPA cases and that the presumption of innocence cannot be lightly disregarded.

The court had made those observations while granting bail to a Jammu and Kashmir resident in a narco-terrorism case.

The Delhi Police had argued that certain observations in the recent judgments appeared to be in conflict with earlier rulings, necessitating clarity from a larger bench.