Supreme Court Adjourns Umar Khalid's Bail Hearing On Joint Request By Both Sides; Posts To January 24
The Supreme Court on Wednesday (January 10) adjourned the hearing of the petition filed by former JNU scholar Umar Khalid seeking bail in the Delhi riots larger conspiracy case. Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, Khalid's lawyer, requested for adjournment as he is engaged in a Constitution Bench hearing today.The Delhi police also sought time citing the unavailability of Additional Solicitor General...
The Supreme Court on Wednesday (January 10) adjourned the hearing of the petition filed by former JNU scholar Umar Khalid seeking bail in the Delhi riots larger conspiracy case. Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, Khalid's lawyer, requested for adjournment as he is engaged in a Constitution Bench hearing today.
The Delhi police also sought time citing the unavailability of Additional Solicitor General SV Raju.
The bench comprising Justices Bela Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal, though initially reluctant to adjourn the matter, ultimately agreed to post it on January 24 after repeated persuasions by Sibal.
Sibal mentioned the matter in the morning itself requesting for adjournment. "We will not grant any adjournment...," Justice Trivedi firmly stated. When Sibal pointed out even the Union wanted time, Justice Trivedi reiterated that the bench would hear the matter today. "We will not grant any time," the judge said.
Sibal said that he has to argue before a Constitution Bench today (in the AMU case) and repeated his request. "The impression goes that the Court is not taking up the matter," Justice Mithal weighed in.
Senior Advocates Arvind Datar and Huzefa Ahmadi, who are appearing in the connected petitions challenging the validity of certain provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, also joined Sibal's request.
Ultimately, after much persuasion by Sibal and other lawyers, the bench agreed to post the matter on January 24, recording that both the petitioner and the Union requested time. No further adjournment will be granted, the bench clarified.
Khalid has been in jail as an undertrial in the case since his arrest by the Delhi Police on September 14, 2020, in the UAPA case over the alleged larger conspiracy behind the Delhi riots of February 2020.
Khalid has been booked under Sections 13, 16, 17, and 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, Sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act, 1959, and Sections 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984.
In October 2022, the Delhi High Court upheld a March 2022 order of a trial court denying Khalid bail. A division bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Rajnish Bhatnagar observed that the protests against Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA) were geared towards the 2020 North-East Delhi riots through various 'conspiratorial meetings' held from December 2019 till February 2020, some of which were also attended by Khalid.
In the order, the high court also took a serious view of Khalid using the words 'inquilabli salam' (revolutionary salute) and 'krantikari istiqbal' (revolutionary welcome) in a speech given in Amaravati in February 2020, considering it to be an incitement of violence. “Revolution by itself isn't always bloodless, which is why it is contradistinctly used with the prefix - a 'bloodless' revolution. So, when we use the expression 'revolution', it is not necessarily bloodless,” the Delhi High Court observed. During the case, the bench also questioned the UAPA accused for using the world 'jumla' against the prime minister, remarking that there should be a 'lakshman rekha' for criticism.
Case : Umar Khalid v. State of NCT of Delhi. Criminal Appeal No(s). 2826/2023