Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam have filed fresh bail pleas in India’s Supreme Court, challenging a Delhi High Court decision that rejected their requests in the 2020 Delhi riots case. Their petitions had not yet been listed for a hearing, according to DW.
The activists are seeking bail in a case concerning an alleged larger conspiracy behind the violence in February 2020. The Delhi High Court turned down their applications on September 30, holding that it was bound by an earlier Supreme Court order. Khalid and Imam have been in pretrial detention for more than six years without conviction.
Their new applications argue that the prosecution has yet to examine any of 47 protected witnesses and that more than 900 witnesses remain to be examined. They say the delay makes the conditions for reconsidering bail difficult to meet and that continued detention violates their right to life and liberty under Article 21 of India’s Constitution.
Earlier Supreme Court ruling set conditions for renewed requests
In an earlier order, the Supreme Court denied bail to Khalid and Imam while granting relief to five co-accused, finding that the two men stood on a different footing. It allowed them to apply again once protected witnesses had been examined or a year had passed, whichever came first.
The Delhi High Court said it could not change the terms of that ruling. The new Supreme Court petitions challenge the High Court’s September decision; filing them does not itself grant bail.
The case relates to the February 2020 violence in Delhi. Police have described Khalid and Imam as alleged masterminds, while the trial has yet to begin. A report by The Times of India also said the renewed petitions challenge the High Court’s refusal.
Nicole French