Delhi High Court seeks police response on Umar Khalid’s bail plea in 2020 riots case

The Delhi High Court on Friday sought the response of Delhi Police to a fresh bail plea filed by activist Umar Khalid in the alleged larger conspiracy case linked to the February 2020 north-east Delhi riots.

A division bench comprising justices Prathiba M. Singh and Vikas Mahajan issued notice to Delhi Police and directed it to file its reply within two weeks. The matter has been listed for hearing on 27 August alongside the bail plea of co-accused Sharjeel Imam.

Appearing for Khalid, counsel told the court that this was his third application for regular bail since his arrest in September 2020. The defence also sought interim bail, citing the Supreme Court's decision to grant similar relief to certain co-accused in the case.

Representing Delhi Police, Additional Solicitor General S. V. Raju submitted that both Khalid's and Imam's bail applications arose from the same trial court order and could be heard together. Accepting the submission, the bench directed that both matters be listed on the same date.

Khalid has challenged a 4 July trial court order rejecting his bail plea. The lower court had held that it was bound by the Supreme Court's earlier observations in the case and therefore could not grant him relief.

Khalid was arrested in September 2020 and charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in connection with the alleged larger conspiracy behind the communal violence that broke out in north-east Delhi in February 2020. The riots claimed 53 lives and left more than 700 people injured.

The violence occurred during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC). Delhi Police's Special Cell is investigating the conspiracy case, in which several others, including Sharjeel Imam, Khalid Saifi and former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain, have also been named as accused.

Khalid's earlier attempts to secure bail have been unsuccessful. In September 2025, the Delhi High Court refused him bail, a decision later upheld by the Supreme Court, which observed that a prima facie case under the UAPA existed against him and Sharjeel Imam. However, the apex court granted relief to several other co-accused in the same case.

In May this year, the Supreme Court granted six months' interim bail to co-accused Abdul Khalid Saifi and Tasleem Ahmad while referring the broader issue of prolonged incarceration of undertrials booked under the UAPA to a larger bench.

With IANS inputs