NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court will on January 7 hear bail pleas of student activists Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and other accused in the UAPA case related to February, 2020 violence. Justices Navin Chawla and Shalinder Kaur are scheduled to hear the cases.
Delhi Police is likely to commence its submissions in the cases.
Khalid, Imam and others were booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and provisions of the IPC for allegedly being the “masterminds” of the February 2020 riots, which left 53 people dead and over 700 injured.
The violence erupted during the protests against the CAA and NRC.
The accused persons sought bail from the court on the grounds, including their prolonged incarceration and parity with co-accused who were granted on bail.
Most accused persons, including Imam, Gulfisha Fatima and Khalid Saifi, filed their bail applications in 2022 with different benched hearing the cases from time to time.
Umar Khalid approached the high court last year seeking bail for the second time, after the dismissal of a similar bail plea by the high court in October 2022.
On December 20, the court deferred the hearing for January 7, after the counsel for Delhi Police said the case would be argued by additional solicitor general S V Raju on behalf of the prosecution.
All accused were arrested by Delhi Police on different dates following the violence.
