Delhi HC grants Umar Khalid three-day interim bail

The Delhi High Court granted jailed activist Umar Khalid three days interim bail from June 1-3 in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case, allowing him to care for his ailing mother ahead of surgery under strict movement and communication restrictions

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Friday granted three days interim bail to jailed student activist Umar Khalid in connection with the larger conspiracy case linked to the 2020 Delhi riots, to enable him to spend time with his ailing mother, who is scheduled to undergo surgery next month.

A Division Bench of Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Madhu Jain allowed Khalid interim bail from June 1 to June 3 after taking an empathetic view of the matter. Interim bail is granted for 3 days from 1-3 June, in order to enable the appellant to spend time with his mother, the Delhi High Court said.

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Khalid had moved the Delhi High Court challenging a trial court order denying him interim bail on humanitarian grounds to attend the Chehlum ceremony of his late uncle and to take care of his mother. The Justice Singh-led Bench directed that Khalid would remain within the Delhi-NCR region during the period of interim bail and stay at the address furnished before the Delhi High Court.

It further ordered that he would not visit any place other than the hospital and his place of stay. The Delhi High Court directed Khalid to use only one mobile number and remain in continuous touch with the Investigating Officer during the period of interim bail.

During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, appearing for the Delhi Police, opposed the plea and submitted that Khalid’s mother was required to undergo only a minor surgery and that his sisters could take care of her.

The Centre’s law officer further submitted that Khalid could be permitted to visit his mother and return the same day under police custody, instead of being granted interim bail. Earlier, a Delhi court had dismissed Khalid’s plea seeking temporary release for 15 days.

Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Bajpai of the Karkardooma Courts had rejected the application filed under Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), read with Section 439 of the CrPC.

According to the plea filed before the trial court, Khalid’s uncle, Khursheed Ahmad Khan, passed away on April 10, and the 40th-day ritual (Chehlum) was scheduled to be held in Delhi on May 24.

Khalid had also submitted that his mother has been unwell and has been advised surgery for lump excision on June 2 at a private hospital. The plea stated that although Khalid’s family consisted of his parents and five sisters, his 71-year-old father was not in a position to take care of his mother, while his sisters lived away from the parental home after marriage.

It was argued that, being the eldest and the only son in the family, Khalid was required to assist his mother before and after the surgery.

Opposing the plea before the trial court, the prosecution had contended that the accused was attempting to misuse the court’s leniency and that the grounds raised were not compelling.

Rejecting the plea earlier, the trial court had observed that Khalid has multiple family members who can support his mother and had said that the surgery appeared to be a simple procedure. It had observed that although Khalid had previously been granted interim bail on multiple occasions and had complied with all conditions, each application must be assessed independently on its merits.