Umar Khalid gets 7-day interim bail in Delhi riots case

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Wednesday granted interim bail to former JNU student Umar Khalid in Delhi riots larger conspiracy case.
The bail was granted to Umar Khalid for 7 days for attending family marriage function.
Khalid questioned the Delhi high court on earlier this month regarding the basis on which he was made an accused in a UAPA case linked to the alleged larger conspiracy behind the northeast Delhi riots of February 2020.
Senior advocate Trideep Pais, representing Khalid before Justices Navin Chawla and Shalinder Kaur, argued that no allegations of criminality were made against many individuals who either attended the alleged conspiracy meetings or made calls post-violence.

He highlighted that photos from one such meeting were shared on social media by participants, yet the police described it as a secret gathering. “There was a meeting; most attendees are not accused. How am I an accused? Only two of us from that meeting, Sharjeel Imam and I, are accused. On what grounds?” questioned Pais.
He pointed out that Swaraj India leader Yogendra Yadav and filmmaker Rahul Roy, despite being present at the meetings and part of an alleged WhatsApp group, were not named as accused in the case.

2020 riots case
Khalid, Imam, and several others have been charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and various IPC sections for allegedly orchestrating the February 2020 riots, which resulted in 53 deaths and over 700 injuries.
The violence broke out during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Khalid, who was arrested by Delhi Police in September 2020, has challenged a trial court’s earlier decision denying him bail.