New Delhi: The Supreme Court will pronounce its verdict on the bail pleas of activists Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and others accused in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case on January 5.
A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria will pronounce the verdict on multiple pleas of the accused in the case.
On December 10, the top court reserved its verdict on separate pleas of the accused after hearing arguments from Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for Delhi Police, and senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Singhvi, Siddhartha Dave, Salman Khurshid and Sidharth Luthra, appearing for the accused.
Strongly opposing the bail pleas, the Delhi Police had said the February 2020 riots were not spontaneous, but an “orchestrated, pre-planned and well-designed” attack on India’s sovereignty.
Police had said that Sharjeel Imam’s speeches can be attributed to other accused and can be used as evidence against them in the case.
S V Raju had contended that all the participants are liable for each other’s acts in a conspiracy.
“Acts of one conspirator can be attributed to others. Sharjeel Imam’s speeches can be attributed to Umar Khalid. Sharjeel Imam’s case will be considered as evidence against the others,” he had told the bench, which conducted hearings on the bail pleas on multiple days.
The additional solicitor general had argued that Khalid deliberately planned to leave Delhi before the riots as he wanted to deflect responsibility.
Seeking bail, Imam had expressed anguish before the apex court for being “labelled” a “dangerous intellectual terrorist”, without a full-fledged trial or a single conviction.
Senior advocate Siddharth Dave, appearing for Imam, had contended that he was arrested on January 28, 2020, which was before the communal violence rocked Northeast Delhi, for his speeches that alone cannot constitute the offence of “criminal conspiracy” in the riots case.
Khalid, Imam, Fatima, Meeran Haider and Shifa Ur Rehman have been booked under the stringent anti-terror law, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA), and provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for allegedly being the “masterminds” of the riots, which left 53 people dead and more than 700 injured.
According to Section 16 of the UAPA, “Whoever commits a terrorist act shall, if such act has resulted in the death of any person, be punishable with death or imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine.”
The violence erupted during widespread protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
The accused moved the apex court, challenging the Delhi High Court’s September 2 order denying them bail in the “larger conspiracy” case of the February 2020 riots.
