NEW DELHI — Activist Sharjeel Imam has approached the Supreme Court challenging a Delhi High Court order that denied him bail in a UAPA case related to the alleged conspiracy behind the 2020 Delhi riots.
The High Court bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Shalinder Kaur had recently rejected the bail pleasĀ of Imam, Umar Khalid, Mohd Saleem Khan, Shifa-Ur-Rehman, Athar Khan, Meeran Haider, Abdul Khalid Saifi, and Gulfisha Fatima.
The order was reserved on July 9 after hearings on petitions filed between 2022 and 2024.
The prosecution opposed the bail pleas, arguing that the violence was not spontaneous but a “pre-planned conspiracy” with a “sinister motive.”
Imam and the others face charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and various sections of the IPC.
They are accused of being key conspirators in the February 2020 riots that broke out during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). The violence claimed 53 lives and injured over 700 people. — Agencies