Umar Khalid's Bail Pleas Impacted By Justice Kait's New Role As MP Chief Justice (image-facebook/umar.khalid.984)

The Supreme Court Collegium recommended senior judge of Delhi High Court Suresh Kumar Kait as the next Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court on Tuesday. Justice Kait ranks fifth on the All India Seniority List of High Court Judges and also holds seniority over current Acting Chief Justice of the State High Court Sanjeev Sachdeva.

Justice Kait also led a bench in the Delhi High Court, which heard former JNU student and activist Umar Khalid and other accused individuals’ bail pleas. Khalid has now spent four years in jail since his arrest in connection with the 2020 northeast Delhi communal riots under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Although chargesheets were filed in 2020 and 2022, the framing of charges has been repeatedly delayed.

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Interestingly, the new resolution passed by the Collegium comes with changes to its earlier recommendations, passed on July 11, for the appointment of Chief Justices of the High Courts, specifically regarding three Justices: Justice Suresh Kumar Kait (Delhi High Court), Justice G S Sandhawalia (Punjab and Haryana High Court), and Justice Tashi Rabstan (Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court).

The recommendations sent to the central government on July 11 have been pending since then, as per Live Law.

Justice Kait, initially as the Chief Justice of Jammu & Kashmir & Ladakh High Court, is now recommended to be appointed as the Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.

This change will lead to the current bench hearing Khalid and others’ bail pleas to break with a fresh bench replacing it where their cases will be heard all over again. Journalist Saurav Das pointed out, in an X post, that Kait’s bench had heard “both sides and still had not passed judgements in some of these accused’s bail pleas.” He also raised concerns about judgement being withheld and bail petitions pending despite hearing concluding arguments from both sides.

Khalid’s bail pleas have been consistently denied by the courts. His bail application remains pending before the Supreme Court since April 6, 2023. The case has been adjourned 13 times for a variety of reasons.

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Recently, the top court reiterated the principle “bail is the rule, jail is the exception,” which, it noted, also applies to UAPA cases. The apex court also observed that denying bail in deserving cases violates the fundamental rights of the accused.

The Delhi High Court is scheduled to review his petition on October 7. The trial court will hear arguments on September 20 about the charges against the 36-year-old researcher and scholar.

Notably, the police have so far failed to provide any evidence linking Khalid and the others to any violence that erupted during the Delhi riots.