Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam Denied Bail in Delhi Riots Conspiracy Case

Delhi : The Delhi High Court has denied bail to activists Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, and several others accused in the “larger conspiracy” case related to the 2020 Northeast Delhi riots. The court also rejected bail petitions filed by seven other accused, including Gulfisha Fatima, Khalid Saifi, Athar Khan, Mohd Saleem, Shifa ur Rehman, Meeran Haider, and Shadaab Ahmed. A separate bench also denied bail to co-accused Tasleem Ahmad. The violence, which erupted on February 23, 2020, following clashes over the proposed Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), left 53 people dead and hundreds injured.

The accused had approached the High Court after a lower court refused them bail, citing prolonged incarceration as unjustified given the slow pace of the trial, and highlighting parity with co-accused Natasha Narwal, Devangana Kalita, and Asif Iqbal Tanha, who were granted bail in 2021. However, the Delhi Police, represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Special Public Prosecutor Amit Prasad, opposed bail, stating that the riots were not spontaneous but a well-planned, orchestrated conspiracy aimed at dividing the country on religious lines and embarrassing India globally. A bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Shalinder Kaur dismissed all the bail petitions, pronouncing the verdict after reserving it in July 2025.