2020 Delhi riots: SC to hear bail pleas of Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Gulfisha on Sep 12

New Delhi: The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on September 12 bail pleas of activists Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and Gulfisha Fatima after failing to get the reprieve from the high court in the UAPA case related to the alleged conspiracy behind the February 2020 riots in the national capital.

A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria is likely to hear the bail pleas of the activists, who have challenged the September 2 Delhi High Court order.

The high court denied bail to nine persons, including Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, in the case, saying "conspiratorial" violence under the garb of demonstrations or protests by citizens couldn't be allowed.

Those who faced rejection include Khalid, Imam, Fatima, Mohd Saleem Khan, Shifa Ur Rehman, Athar Khan, Meeran Haider, Abdul Khalid Saifi and Shadab Ahmed.

The bail plea of another accused Tasleem Ahmed was rejected by a different high court bench on September 2.

The high court said the Constitution affords citizens the right to protest and carry out demonstrations or agitations, provided they are orderly, peaceful and without arms and such actions must be within the bounds of law.

While the high court said the right to participate in peaceful protests and to make speeches in public meetings was said to have been protected under Article 19(1)(a), and couldn't be blatantly curtailed, it observed the right was "not absolute" and "subject to reasonable restrictions".

"If the exercise of an unfettered right to protest were permitted, it would damage the constitutional framework and impinge upon the law-and-order situation in the country," the bail rejection order said.

Khalid, Imam and the rest of the accused persons 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.

These accused, who have denied all the allegations levelled against them, have been in jail since 2020 and they sought bail in the high court after a trial court rejected their bail pleas.