Delhi High Court seeks police response on Umar Khalid’s fresh bail plea in UAPA case

The Delhi High Court has sought Delhi Police's response to activist Umar Khalid's fresh bail plea in the UAPA case linked to the alleged larger conspiracy behind the 2020 northeast Delhi riots and scheduled the matter for hearing on August 27

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Friday sought the stand of the city police on a plea by activist Umar Khalid seeking bail in a case under the anti-terror law UAPA on the “larger conspiracy” behind the February 2020 riots in north-east Delhi.

Issuing a notice in the matter, a bench of Justices Prathiba M Singh and Vikas Mahajan asked Delhi Police to file its response within two weeks.

---

Khalid’s counsel said it was the activist’s third bail application since his arrest (in September 2020) and that he was also seeking interim bail in the case based on similar relief given to the other co-accused by the Supreme Court.

The bench said it will hear Khalid’s plea on August 27, when the bail plea of co-accused Sharjeel Imam is also listed.

Khalid has challenged a trial court’s July 4 decision dismissing his bail application.

Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for Delhi Police, said that the same trial court order also rejected Imam’s bail plea, and both cases could be taken up together by the bench.

“Considering the overlapping nature of the matter, issue notice. Let reply be filed in two weeks. Rejoinder in two weeks. (List the matter for) August 27, along with Imam,” the bench ordered.

Arrested in September 2020, Khalid has been booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) on allegations of being one of the masterminds of the February 2020 riots that left 53 people dead and more than 700 injured.

The violence erupted during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), 2019, and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Activists Sharjeel Imam, Khalid Saifi and former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain, among others, were also booked for their alleged involvement in the larger conspiracy case, which is being investigated by Delhi Police’s Special Cell.

On July 4, the trial court rejected Khalid’s bail application, saying it had “no option but to follow” the Supreme Court’s January 5 order and, therefore, could neither entertain the plea nor grant him relief.

On September 2, 2025, a high court division bench denied bail to Khalid. On January 5, the Supreme Court upheld the verdict but granted relief to co-accused Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, Mohammad Saleem Khan and Shadab Ahmad.

A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria had then observed that there was a prima facie case against Khalid and Imam under the UAPA.

On May 22, the top court granted six months’ interim bail to co-accused Abdul Khalid Saifi and Tasleem Ahmad, as it referred the issue of prolonged incarceration of the undertrials under UAPA due to stringent prerequisites for granting bail to a larger bench.

On October 18, 2022, the high court rejected Khalid’s first bail plea since his arrest, saying that the allegations against him were prima facie true.

The high court had said that admittedly, the anti-CAA protests “metamorphosed into violent riots”, which “prima facie seemed to be orchestrated at the conspiratorial meetings”, and the statements of the witnesses indicated Khalid’s “active involvement” in the protests.