Delhi HC seeks police reply on Umar Khalid's bail plea in 2020 riots case

Umar Khalid's counsel told the court this was his third bail application since his arrest and said he was also seeking interim bail in the case.

In Short

• The bench gave investigators two weeks to submit their reply
• The matter is scheduled alongside co-accused Sharjeel Imam's plea
• Counsel said this is Khalid's third bail attempt since arrest

The Delhi High Court on Friday sought the response of Delhi Police on activist Umar Khalid's bail plea in the case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, or UAPA, linked to the alleged larger conspiracy behind the February 2020 north-east Delhi riots.

A bench of Justices Prathiba M Singh and Vikas Mahajan issued notice to the police and asked it to file its reply within two weeks.

The court said it would hear Khalid's plea on August 27, when the bail plea of co-accused Sharjeel Imam is also listed. Khalid's counsel told the court this was his third bail application since his arrest and said he was also seeking interim bail in the case.

Khalid has challenged a trial court order of July 4 that dismissed his bail plea.

Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for Delhi Police, said Imam's bail plea had also been rejected by the same trial court order and both matters could be heard together by the high court bench.

Arrested in September 2020, Khalid has been booked under the UAPA on allegations that he was one of the masterminds of the February 2020 riots, in which 53 people were killed and more than 700 were injured.

The violence broke out during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, and the National Register of Citizens. Activists Sharjeel Imam, Khalid Saifi and former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain, among others, were also booked in the alleged larger conspiracy case, which is being investigated by Delhi Police's Special Cell.

On July 4, the trial court rejected Khalid's bail plea, saying it had "no option but to follow" the Supreme Court's January 5 order and could therefore neither entertain the application nor grant him relief.

On September 2, 2025, a high court division bench denied bail to Khalid. On January 5, the Supreme Court upheld that verdict, but granted relief to co-accused Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, Mohammad Saleem Khan and Shadab Ahmad.

A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria had then said there was a prima facie case against Khalid and Imam under the UAPA and held that all accused could not be treated equally in view of the "hierarchy of participation".

With notice now issued to Delhi Police, the high court will next take up Khalid's bail plea along with Imam's on August 27, while his challenge to the July 4 trial court order remains pending.

- Ends