The Delhi High Court on Friday took a significant step in the case concerning activist Umar Khalid, seeking the stand of the city police on his bail plea under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Khalid faces allegations of involvement in the larger conspiracy behind the February 2020 riots in north-east Delhi.
Issuing a notice in the matter, a bench comprising Justices Prathiba M Singh and Vikas Mahajan directed the Delhi Police to file their response within two weeks. This latest plea marks Khalid’s third attempt to secure bail since his arrest in September 2020.
Khalid’s attorney emphasized that this request for bail is urgent, also seeking interim bail in the light of ongoing legal processes. The bench announced it will hear Khalid’s bail plea on August 27, coinciding with the hearing for co-accused Sharjeel Imam’s application.
Khalid previously challenged a trial court’s July 4 decision, which dismissed his earlier bail request. Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, representing the Delhi Police, indicated that Imam’s bail plea, which faced a similar rejection from the trial court, could also be addressed by the bench during the same hearing.
The Delhi Police arrested Khalid under accusations of being one of the masterminds behind the February 2020 riots that resulted in the deaths of 53 individuals and left more than 700 injured. This violence erupted amid widespread protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), 2019, and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Authorities have included several activists—Sharjeel Imam, Khalid Saifi, and former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain—in the investigation concerning this larger conspiracy. The case remains under scrutiny by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police.
The trial court had previously rejected Khalid’s bail application by citing it had “no option but to follow” a January 5 order from the Supreme Court. As a result, the court felt it could neither entertain Khalid’s plea nor grant him relief.
The situation intensified when, on September 2, 2025, a high court division bench also denied bail to Khalid, reaffirming that a prima facie case exists under the UAPA against him and his co-accused, Imam. The Supreme Court later upheld the high court’s decision, though it did grant bail to other co-accused, such as Gulfisha Fatima and Meeran Haider.
The bench, consisting of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria, noted that there is a clear division in the roles played by the accused, emphasizing that not all could be treated equally due to what they described as the “hierarchy of participation” in the unfolding events of February 2020.
