The Delhi High Court on Tuesday dismissed former JNU student leader Umar Khalid’s bail application in the larger conspiracy case related to the 2020 North East Delhi riots, stating that it found “no merit” in his appeal.
“There is no merit in the bail appeal,” said a bench of Justices Rajnish Bhatnagar and Siddharth Mridul while dismissing his plea.
The bench had earlier reserved its decision on September 9.
The bail application filed by Khalid, who was arrested in September 2020, said that he was neither involved in the communal violence in the northeastern part of the capital city in February 2020 nor in any conspiracy linked to it.
The petition was opposed by the Delhi Police. In its response, the police said that Khalid’s name “finds recurring mention from the beginning of the conspiracy till the culmination of the ensuing riots”.
The Delhi Police also said that he referred to the visit of then-US president Donald Trump to India in his speech in Amravati. Notably, the riots coincided with the US leader’s visit.
Back then, many had alleged that riots that broke out during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) were part of a conspiracy to defame India.
“The CDR (call detail record) analysis depicts that there had been a flurry of calls that happened post riots amongst the appellant and other co-accused,” the police told the court and further said that the “cumulative statement” of witnesses indicates his active involvement in protests against CAA and NRC (national register of citizens).
Khalid, who was booked under provisions of the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), the Arms Act and the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, approached the high court after his bail plea was rejected by a trial court in March.
Further refuting Khalid’s submissions, the Delhi Police counsel said that the protests and riots “prima-facie seem to be orchestrated at the conspiratorial meetings” attended at Jantar Mantar, Jangpura Office, Shaheen Bagh, Seelampur, Jaffrabad and Indian Social Institute from December 2019 to February 2020.
“As per precedents, terrorism is an act done with a view to disturb the even tempo of society, create a sense of fear in the mind of a section of society,” the police argued.