Delhi Riots: High Court To Hear Bail Pleas Of Sharjeel Imam, Others Afresh Following Elevation Of Justice Siddharth Mridul As CJ Of Manipur HC

The Delhi High Court will hear afresh the bail pleas of Sharjeel Imam, Khalid Saifi and other accused persons in relation to the Delhi riots larger conspiracy case, after the elevation of Justice Siddharth Mridul as Chief Justice of Manipur High Court.

A division bench of Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Shailender Kaur will start hearing the appeals now from January 2024.

The court was informed today that the verdict in at least three bail pleas were reserved by a special bench headed by Justice Mridul. However, the appeals will have to be re-argued in view of the judge’s elevation.

The bail pleas have been filed by accused Sharjeel Imam, Khalid Saifi, Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shadab Ahmed, Athar Khan, Shifa ur Rehman and Salim Khan. Delhi Police’s appeal seeking cancellation of bail granted to accused Ishrat Jahan will also be heard by the bench.

The special bench comprising Justice Mridul and Justice Rajnish Bhatnagar in October last year had denied bail to accused Umar Khalid in the case.

FIR 59 of 2020 is being probed by Delhi Police’s Special Cell. The case has been registered under various offences under the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

The accused in the case are Tahir Hussain, Umar Khalid, Khalid Saifi, Isharat Jahan, Meeran Haider, Gulfisha Fatima, Shifa-Ur-Rehman, Asif Iqbal Tanha, Shadab Ahmed, Tasleem Ahmed, Saleem Malik, Mohd. Saleem Khan, Athar Khan, Safoora Zargar, Sharjeel Imam, Faizan Khan and Natasha Narwal.