Delhi riots case accused Umar Khalid granted interim bail to attend ailing mother

The Delhi High court on Friday (May 22) granted interim bail to Umar Khalid. The bail granted to Khalid, who is an accused in the 2020 Northeast Delhi riots case, has been granted for two days to attend a ritual pertaining to his uncle's death and meet his mother who will undergo a surgery.

Khalid will be out on bail from June 1 till June 3 to attend to attend the ritual of his uncle and meet his mother.

The bail was granted after Khalid's lawyer made an appeal saying that his uncle Khursheed Ahmad Khan died on April 10, and the Chehlum ritual was scheduled to be held in Delhi on May 24. He also submitted in the court about Khalid's mother keeping unwell and that she will undergo a lump excision surgery on June 2.

Case against Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam

Umar Khalid has been in custody since September 13, 2020, while Imam has been prisoned since January 28, 2020. The 2020 riots took place in February in parts of Northeast Delhi, following massive protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). Soon after, Delhi Police investigating the case arrested several students and activists under stringent laws such as the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). The police alleged that their speeches contributed to escalation of violence and they were a part of the "larger conspiracy" that led to the riots. Sharjeel Imam's 'chicken's neck' speech and Khalid's 2016 JNU protest, became a premise for the cops to frame a case against them.

Though the counsel appearing for the accused argued that hours-long speeches and WhatsApp chats have been edited and cherrypicked to create “prejudice” against them, the Delhi HC bench of justices Navin Chawla and Shalinder Kaur (since retired) held that the material collected by investigators prima facie pointed to a coordinated conspiracy, describing Khalid and Imam as the “intellectual architects” of the violence.