Delhi court rejects bail pleas of Khalid and Imam

A Delhi court on Saturday dismissed the regular bail applications of activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in the larger conspiracy case linked to the 2020 northeast Delhi riots. Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Bajpai of the Karkardooma Court ruled that the pleas were not legally maintainable, citing a binding Supreme Court order from January 5 of this year that had declined them bail.

The court stated it was obligated to follow that Supreme Court judgment, which had specified that the two men could only renew their bail applications after the examination of certain protected witnesses or after one year from the January order, whichever occurred earlier. Since neither condition has been met, the court concluded it could not entertain the current petitions.

During the hearing, defense counsel argued there had been a significant change in circumstances since January. They cited subsequent Supreme Court judgments, including one in the case of Syed Iftikhar Andrabi, which they said expressed reservations about the legal reasoning applied in the earlier bail denial. They also pointed to the apex court's recent decision to grant six months of interim bail to two co-accused, Tasleem...