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The Supreme Court today (September 22) issued notice to the Delhi Police on the petitions filed by Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Meeran Haider, Gulfisha Fatima and Shifa Ur Rehman seeking bail in the Delhi riots larger conspiracy case. A bench comprising Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice NV Anjaria posted the matter next on October 7. Senior Advocates Kapil Sibal(for Khalid), AM Singhvi(Fatima), Siddharth Dave(for Imam), Siddharth Agarwal etc appeared for the petitioners.
At the outset, Justice Kumar apologised for not taking up the matter last Friday (September 19). Justice Kumar said that it happened because his bench partner, Justice Manmohan, wanted to recuse as he was earlier an associate in the chamber of Kapil Sibal. Singhvi said that the petitioners are students who have been behind bars for over five years. He said that the petitioners have also filed an application for interim bail, though it is not pressed today. He requested for issuance of notice on the interim bail application as well. Justice Kumar said that the Court will finally dispose of the main petition itself.
The petitioners also requested for an earlier hearing date. "Before Diwali, so that they can be out by Diwali. They are all there for more than five years" Sibal submitted. The petitions have been filed against the Delhi High Court's judgment delivered on September 2, dismissing their bail applications. A division bench comprising Justice Naveen Chawla and Justice Shalinder Kaur had pronounced the judgment in FIR 59 of 2020, registered by Delhi Police's Special Cell.
The petitioners, who were student activists in the forefront of organising anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests in 2019-2020, are facing charges under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and the Indian Penal Code for allegedly formulating the "larger conspiracy" behind the communal riots which took place in the national capital in the last week of February 2020. The accused in the case are Tahir Hussain, Umar Khalid, Khalid Saifi, Isharat Jahan, Meeran Haider, Gulfisha Fatima, Shifa-Ur-Rehman, Asif Iqbal Tanha(granted bail in 2021), Shadab Ahmed, Tasleem Ahmed, Saleem Malik, Mohd. Saleem Khan, Athar Khan, Safoora Zargar(granted bail on humanitarian grounds as she was pregnant when arrested), Sharjeel Imam, Faizan Khan, Devangana Kalita (granted bail) and Natasha Narwal(granted bail
September 2 judgment denied bail to Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Athar Khan, Khalid Saifi, Mohd Saleem Khan, Shifa ur Rehman, Meeran Haider, Gulfisha Fatima and Shadab Ahmed. The petitioners have been in custody for over five years.
Case Details:
1. UMAR KHALID v. STATE OF NCT OF DELHI|SLP(Crl) No. 14165/2025,
2. GULFISHA FATIMA v STATE (GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI )|SLP(Crl) No. 13988/2025
3. SHARJEEL IMAM v THE STATE NCT OF DELHI|SLP(Crl) No. 14030/2025
4. MEERAN HAIDER v. THE STATE NCT OF DELHI | SLP(Crl) No./14132/2025
5. SHIFA UR REHMAN v STATE OF NATIONAL CAPITAL TERRITORY|SLP(Crl) No. 14859/2025
