Delhi Court Rejects Fresh Bail Pleas of Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam
A Delhi court on Saturday, July 4, 2026, rejected the fresh bail applications of activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, who are accused in the larger conspiracy case related to the February 2020 North East Delhi riots.
Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Bajpai denied the relief to both the accused after hearing arguments on bail from both sides. The activists had filed for bail after a Supreme Court bench raised objections to a coordinating bench's order denying them bail.
Both Mr. Khalid and Mr. Imam were booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for allegedly being among the masterminds of the February 2020 riots, which left 53 people dead and more than 700 injured.
In their applications, the accused contended that their continued incarceration without the commencement of a trial violates their fundamental right to liberty. Both highlighted that they have spent nearly six years in custody without charges being framed in the case.
Mr. Khalid's plea argued that subsequent judicial developments constituted a change in circumstances. He referred to the Supreme Court's remarks in May in another terror-related case, which emphasised that anti-terror laws should not be used as a tool for indefinite detention and asserted that bail is the rule even under the UAPA.
Mr. Imam also submitted that there had been no significant development in the proceedings, even six months after the Supreme Court previously denied him bail.
The Delhi Police, represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Additional Solicitor-General S.V. Raju, had previously characterised the two activists as the intellectual architects of the conspiracy. The prosecution argued that the scale, preparation, and intent of the violence showed that the conspiracy extended far beyond civil demonstrations against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.
Meanwhile, the accused maintained that they were merely exercising their constitutional right to protest and had no role in inciting the violence.
