New Delhi [India], May 19 (ANI): A Delhi court on Tuesday dismissed the interim bail plea moved by former JNU student leader Umar Khalid in the 2020 Delhi riots larger conspiracy case, observing that the reasons cited by him for seeking temporary release were not reasonable.
Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Bajpai of Karkardooma Court passed the order in the case titled State vs Tahir Hussain (Umar Khalid Interim Bail) arising out of an FIR registered by the Crime Branch.
The application was filed under Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), read with Section 439 of the CrPC, seeking interim bail for 15 days to enable Khalid to attend the 40th day ritual (Chehlum) of his uncle and to take care of his mother, who is scheduled to undergo surgery.
The order recorded that Special Public Prosecutor Anirudh Mishra appeared for the State through video conferencing, along with Legal Assistant Ayodhya Prasad, Inspector Anil and SI Raj Bahadur Gill. Advocate Sahil Ghai appeared for Khalid.
According to the plea, Khalid’s uncle, Khursheed Ahmad Khan, passed away on April 10, and the Chehlum ceremony was scheduled for May 24 in Delhi. The application also stated that Khalid’s mother had been advised to undergo surgery for lump excision on June 2 after a medical examination at Alshifa Multispeciality Hospital.
The defence argued that Khalid, being the eldest and only son in the family, was required to take care of his mother before and after the surgery, particularly as his father is 71 years old and four of his five sisters live away from the parental home. It was also pointed out that Khalid had previously been granted interim bail on multiple occasions and had complied with all conditions imposed by the court.
Opposing the plea, Special PP Mishra submitted that Khalid was misusing the leniency shown by the court and that the grounds raised this time were not justified. The prosecution argued that attending the Chehlum ceremony of an uncle was not necessary and that other family members could perform the formalities. Regarding Khalid’s mother’s surgery, the prosecution contended that his sisters and father could take care of her and that the procedure was a minor surgery requiring only local anaesthesia.
After hearing both sides, the court observed that every interim bail application has to be assessed on its own merits. The judge held that the request to attend the Chehlum ceremony did not constitute a sufficient ground for interim bail, noting that if the relationship was so immediate, Khalid would have sought release at the time of his uncle’s death itself.
On the medical grounds, the court noted that Khalid himself had stated that he has five sisters who could assist their mother and that his father was also available to care for her. The court further observed that the surgery appeared to be a simple procedure for the removal of lumps and that there did not appear to be any actual requirement for Khalid’s assistance.
“Accordingly, finding the reasons unreasonable, the Court doesn’t deem it appropriate to grant the desired relief to the applicant. The application is dismissed,” the court said.
Umar Khalid was arrested on September 13, 2020, on charges of delivering provocative speeches on February 24 and 25 when Donald Trump, in his first term as the president of the United States, visited India. He has been charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
The February 2020 riots in north-east Delhi had erupted during the protests against the then-proposed Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) and had left 53 people dead and over 700 injured. (ANI)
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