Delhi High Court Adjourns Hearing On Umar Khalid’s Bail Plea

The Delhi High Court adjourned the hearing on the bail plea of former JNU scholar and student activist Umar Khalid on Monday. Khalid has been incarcerated since September 2020 under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in connection with the “larger conspiracy” case related to the 2020 North-East Delhi riots.

Justices Navin Chawla and Shalinder Kaur, who were scheduled to hear the matter, did not convene and are expected to address Khalid’s bail plea on November 25.

In July, a bench led by Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Girish Kathpaliya issued a notice regarding Khalid’s bail application, requesting the Delhi Police to submit a response. Following Justice Kait’s appointment as Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, the case has been re-assigned to the current bench.

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Previously, Justice Amit Sharma recused himself from hearing Khalid’s plea, leading Justice Prathiba M. Singh to direct that the matter be heard by a different bench on July 24.

A Delhi court denied Khalid’s bail application on May 28, citing delays in trial proceedings and pointing to other co-accused who had been granted bail. Earlier, in April 2022, a trial court dismissed Khalid’s first bail request, which the Delhi High Court also rejected.

In February of this year, Khalid withdrew a special leave petition he had filed before the Supreme Court seeking bail, citing a “change in circumstances,” and expressed his intention to apply anew for bail before the trial court.

Khalid faces charges under the stringent anti-terror law UAPA as well as several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).