Delhi High Court to hear Umar Khalid's third bail plea

The Delhi High Court is scheduled to hear a fresh bail petition from activist Umar Khalid on Friday, July 31, marking his third attempt to secure release in a high-profile case related to the 2020 Delhi riots. The bench of Justices Prathiba M Singh and Vikas Mahajan will also consider a similar plea from co-accused Sharjeel Imam. The hearing follows a trial court's refusal earlier this month to grant bail, citing its obligation to follow a previous Supreme Court order.

Khalid, a former Jawaharlal Nehru University scholar, was arrested in September 2020 and charged under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). He is accused of being part of a larger conspiracy behind the communal violence that erupted in Northeast Delhi in February 2020 during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act. The riots resulted in over 50 deaths and hundreds of injuries.

The immediate trigger for the latest High Court appeal is a trial court order dated July 4, which dismissed Khalid's bail application. That court stated it was bound by a Supreme Court order from January 5, 2026, which had dismissed bail pleas from Khalid and Imam. The trial court judge noted that the Supreme Court...