Delhi riots case: SC begins hearing arguments on bail pleas of Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam; next hearing Nov 3

New Delhi [India], October 31 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Friday heard arguments on pleas of Sharjeel Imam, Umar Khalid, Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider and Shifa Ur Rehman challenging the Delhi High Court order which denied them bail in the UAPA case linked to the alleged larger conspiracy behind the 2020 north-east Delhi riots.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Umar Khalid, told the top court that he was not even in Delhi when the riots took place. He said the prosecution has been delaying the trial and then blaming Khalid for the same.
Senior advocate Siddhartha Dave, representing the Imam, argued that he did not make any calls for violence and was only exercising his right to peaceful protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
He said that he never made any calls for violence but only called for peaceful blockades.

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Fatima, said that there was no evidence of any violence at the protest sites where she was present. He said there was an extraordinary delay in the trial, and Fatima has been in jail for over five years as an undertrial.
He said Fatima is the only woman accused currently in custody.
A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and NV Anjaria was hearing bail pleas filed by Khalid, Imam, Fatima and three other accused in the Delhi riots larger conspiracy case. It has now posted the matter for hearing on November 3.
The Delhi police on Thursday objected to their bail pleas, saying the alleged offences involved a deliberate attempt to destabilise the state.
Delhi police, in an affidavit, said that the conspiracy was pre-planned to be executed at the time when the US president was to make an official visit to India, and thus was done so as to draw the attention of international media and to make the issue of CAA a global issue.
"The materials on record, including the chats referencing US President Donald Trump, establish beyond doubt that the instant conspiracy was pre-planned to be executed at the time when the US President was to make an official visit to India. This was done so as to draw the attention of international media and to make the issue of CAA a global issue by portraying it as an act pogrom of Muslims community in India," the affidavit of Delhi police states.
The issue of CAA was carefully chosen as to serve as a "radicalising catalyst" camouflaged in the name of "peaceful protest", the affidavit said.
It further stated that the "deep-rooted, premeditated and pre-planned conspiracy" hatched by the petitioners resulted in the death of 53 persons, large-scale damage to public property, leading to the registration of 753 FIRS in Delhi alone.
Evidence on record suggests that the instant conspiracy was sought to be replicated and executed PAN India, said the Delhi police.
The Delhi police filed its affidavit on bail pleas of Sharjeel Imam, Umar Khalid, Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider and Shifa Ur Rehman, challenging the Delhi High Court order, which denied them bail in the UAPA case linked to the alleged larger conspiracy behind the 2020 north-east Delhi riots.
The Delhi police, in its affidavit, further said that ocular and irrefutable documentary as well as technical evidence against the petitioners showed their "intrinsic, deep-rooted and fervent complicity in engineering a nationwide riot on communal lines."
"The conspiracy hatched, nurtured and executed by the petitioner was to strike at the very heart of the sovereignty and integrity of the country by destroying the communal harmony, instigating the crowd not only to abrogate public order but to instigate them to an extent of armed rebellion," it added.
It further said that the international theory developed in the past few years has termed these kinds of organised/sponsored protests as "Regime Change Operation(s)".
In the offences which strike at the very root of integrity of India (UAPA offences) "jail and not bail" is the rule, added the affidavit.
"The allegations against the petitioner are prima facie true. The onus of refuting the said presumption rests with the petitioners, which they have miserably failed to discharge. The bail in the present case, specifically in view of the extreme severe gravity of the offence, cannot be granted only on the ground of delay for which the petitioner themselves are responsible," stated the Delhi police.
The conduct of the petitioners in the present case is riddled with brazen and blatant abuse of the process of law, it further said.
It added, "The petitioners through their malafide machinations have made every attempt available to them in the book to delay, derail and obfuscate the investigation and trial in the matter."
"The delay which has occurred in the commencement of the trial is solely attributable to the petitioner. Both the High Court as well as the special court have given judicial findings after findings, elaborating as to how the petitioners working in tandem have not allowed the charge to be framed in the matter," it said.
The response of the Delhi police came after, earlier this week, the apex court asked the investigating agency to consider whether the accused, several of whom have spent nearly five years in judicial custody as undertrials, could be released on bail.
The Delhi High Court on September 2, had denied bail to Imam, Khalid and seven others - Mohd Saleem Khan, Shifa Ur Rehman, Athar Khan, Meeran Haider, Shadab Ahmed, Abdul Khalid Saifi and Gulfisha Fatima.
On September 2, the bail plea of another accused, Tasleem Ahmed, was rejected by a different High Court bench.
Delhi Police had opposed their bail pleas, saying it was not a case of spontaneous riots but a case where riots were "planned well in advance" with a "sinister motive and well-thought-out conspiracy."
The High Court had observed that prima facie, the role of Imam and Khalid in the entire conspiracy was "grave", having delivered inflammatory speeches on communal lines to "instigate mass mobilisation of members of the Muslim community."
They sought bail from the apex court in the larger conspiracy case under the stringent provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in the Delhi riots case in February 2020.
In 2020, the Delhi police arrested Imam under the UAPA and named him as the main conspirator behind the Delhi riots case.
The violence had erupted during the protests against the then-proposed Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) and had left 53 people dead and over 700 injured. (ANI)