SC To Hear Bail Pleas Of Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Gulfisha Fatima In 2020 Delhi Riots Case On Friday

(MENAFN- Live Mint) The Supreme Court is set to hear the bail pleas of activists Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, and Gulfisha Fatima on Friday, September 12. This comes days after the Delhi High Court denied them bail in the February 2020 Delhi riots case.

Delhi High Court denied bail to Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and Gulfisha Fatima in the UAPA case related to the alleged conspiracy behind the February 2020 riots in Delhi.

The Delhi High Court's order was challenged by the three activists recently. A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and NV Anjaria is likely to hear the bail pleas.

The high court had on September 2 denied bail to nine persons arrested in the February 2020 Delhi riots case, including Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Gulfisha Fatima, Mohd Saleem Khan, Shifa Ur Rehman, Athar Khan, Meeran Haider, Abdul Khalid Saifi and Shadab Ahmed.

The bail plea of another accused, Tasleem Ahmed, was rejected by a different high court bench on September 2.

In 2020, the Delhi police arrested Sharjeel Imam under the UAPA and named him the main conspirator behind the Delhi riots case.

Sharjeel Imam approached the Supreme Court on Saturday, September 6, 2025, against the Delhi High Court's decision to reject his bail plea. Gulfisha Fatima and Umar Khalid soon followed with their separate bail pleas, all of which will be heard by the Supreme Court tomorrow.

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On September 2, the high court said the Constitution grants citizens the right to protest and carry out demonstrations or agitations only if they are orderly, peaceful, and without arms. The HC said such actions should be within the bounds of law.

It said that while the right to hold peaceful protests and make speeches in public meetings could not be curtailed as they are protected under Article 19(1)(a), the right was“not absolute” and“subject to reasonable restrictions”.

Also Read | Sharjeel Imam moves Supreme Court after Delhi HC denies bail in 2020 riots case

“If the exercise of an unfettered right to protest were permitted, it would damage the constitutional framework and impinge upon the law-and-order situation in the country,” the bail rejection order said.

During the hearing, a bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Shalinder Kaur named Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam the main conspirators of the 2020 Delhi riots that shook the nation.

Also Read | Delhi Court acquits 6 in 2020 riots case

“In the conspectus of the allegations levelled, it emerges that the role of Sharjeel Imam and Umar Khalid is prima facie grave in the entire conspiracy, having delivered inflammatory speeches on communal lines to instigate a mass mobilisation of members of the Muslim Community,” the Delhi High Court said in the judgment.

The 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy accused argued that their prolonged incarceration without charges being framed amounted to a denial of justice.

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