Delhi court denies bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday rejected the bail pleas of student activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in the case concerning an alleged “larger conspiracy” behind the February 2020 Northeast Delhi riots.

A division bench of Justices Prathiba Singh and Dinesh Bhatt held that Khalid and Imam could not claim parity with other accused who were granted bail by the Supreme Court in the case.

The High Court said it was “bound by judicial discipline” to follow the Supreme Court’s specific rulings on bail in the Northeast Delhi riots case. It also rejected the argument that Khalid and Imam were entitled to parity with co-accused Tasleem Ahmad and Abdul Khalid Saifi, who were granted bail by the apex court amid divergent views on bail jurisprudence under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

The two activists had relied on the Supreme Court’s bail orders as well as a subsequent judgment that had raised questions over aspects of the apex court’s earlier ruling. However, the High Court held that the later judgment would not apply to their cases because the Supreme Court had already passed specific orders concerning bail for Khalid and Imam in the Northeast Delhi riots case.

The Supreme Court, in an order on January 5, had refused bail to Khalid and Imam while granting bail to five other accused. It had placed the two activists at a “higher footing” in a hierarchy of alleged participation and allowed them to seek bail either a year after the judgment or after the examination of protected witnesses, whichever was earlier.

A subsequent Supreme Court judgment in May had expressed “serious reservations on various aspects” of the January ruling. The High Court, however, said that the issue did not alter the position applicable to Khalid and Imam in view of the specific Supreme Court verdicts in their cases.

Khalid has previously been denied bail by the Delhi High Court twice, in October 2022 and September 2025. The Supreme Court subsequently upheld the High Court’s orders on both occasions.

Khalid and Imam have been in custody for more than six years and face charges under the UAPA, besides provisions of the Indian Penal Code, the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act and the Arms Act.

The prosecution has accused them and others of being part of a “larger conspiracy” behind the communal violence in Northeast Delhi between February 23 and 25, 2020. The riots left 53 people dead and more than 700 injured.