Supreme Court Adjourned Umar Khalid’s Bail Plea Till January 10 (image-instagram/umarkhalid)

The Supreme Court on Wednesday postponed the hearing on the bail plea of the former JNU student Umar Khalid in a case lodged under anti-terror law UAPA over his alleged involvement in the conspiracy behind the northeast Delhi riots of February 2020.

The bench that deferred the case included Justice Bela M Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma in the absence of senior advocate Kapil Sibil, for Khalid and Additional Solicitor General S V Raju.

The bench said that as per the request of the appellant and the Union of India, the matter has been listed on January 10. The pleading can be completed within the time. The matter was listed along with a batch of petitions challenging various provision of the UAPA.

Umar Khalid moved to the apex court challenging the verdict passed by Delhi High Court denying bail to him. He was arrested by the Delhi police in September 2020, and charged with criminal conspiracy, rioting, unlawful assembly as well as several other offenses under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), reports the Bar and Bench.

Khalid initially approached the High Court in March 2022, when the Karkardooma court denied the bail. Later he had to approach the top court prompting the appeal.

Supreme Court in May 2023 issued a notice to the Delhi Police on the bail plea. In July, the Bench hearing the matter stated that the hearing will be wrapped up within two minutes.

Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, and several others have been arrested charging UAPA allegedly being the ‘masterminds’ of the February 2020 riots, which left 53 people dead and over 700 injured. The violence erupted during the protests against Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), reports telegraph india.