Umar Khalid's role grave, hurried trial harmful: Court on no bail in Delhi riots case

 Umar Khalid's role grave, hurried trial harmful: Court on no bail in Delhi riots case

The court said Sharjeel Imam and Umar Khalid were the "first ones to act" after the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill was passed, by creating WhatsApp groups and distributing pamphlets in Muslim-populated areas calling for protests and 'chakka-jaams'.  

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday refused to grant bail to former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, holding that their role in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case was prima facie "grave" and observing that a hurried trial would be "detrimental" to both the accused and the State.

The bench said the role assigned to Khalid and Imam by the prosecution "cannot be lightly brushed aside".

It noted that prima facie they were the "first ones to act" creating WhatsApp groups and distributing pamphlets in Muslim-populated areas calling for protests and 'chakka-jaams', including the disruption of essential supplies.

The prosecution, the court recorded, further alleged that the duo misled people into believing that CAA and NRC were anti-Muslim laws.

Suffice it to say, the court added, the alleged inflammatory and provocative speeches delivered by the appellants, when considered in totality, "prima facie indicate their role in the alleged conspiracy".

Their absence at the time of the actual riots, the bench said, cannot mitigate their alleged role, as they were accused of being key conspirators in "planning and designing the scheme of events".

"A hurried trial would be detrimental to the rights of both appellants and the State," the bench observed, adding that the pace of proceedings would progress naturally. It emphasised that the trial was already at the stage of arguments on the framing of charges, which showed that the case was moving forward.