The Delhi Police strongly opposed the bail requests of Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam—two former students of Jawaharlal Nehru University—who have been in jail for several years in connection with the 2020 Delhi riots.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Delhi Police, told the Delhi High Court that Khalid, Imam, and others were involved in a “pre-planned conspiracy” to divide India along religious lines.
“They were preparing to divide the nation… They are all acting in concert. Umar, Gulfisha, Sharjeel—they were in touch through a WhatsApp group,” Mehta claimed during the hearing.
The court, consisting of Justices Navin Chawla and Shalinder Kaur, has reserved its judgment on the bail pleas. This means the judges will announce their decision later, after considering all arguments.
Khalid, Imam, and several others have been accused under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), a stringent anti-terror law. They have argued for bail, mainly because the trial has been delayed for years and charges have not yet been formally framed.
However, Mehta said that long imprisonment alone should not be a reason for bail when the case involves alleged anti-national activities.
“If you are doing something against the nation, you better be in jail,” he told the court.
He described the Delhi riots as a “well-orchestrated conspiracy” meant to not only incite violence but also “defame the country globally.”
“One of their intentions was to globally defame our nation by choosing a particular day for more arson, more rioting,” Mehta said, referring to international coverage of the violence.
He also claimed that Imam had given a speech laying out a four-week plan to trigger unrest, and suggested that so-called “intellectuals” were involved in spreading division.
The case continues to be one of the most controversial trials related to the anti-CAA protests and subsequent violence in North-East Delhi that left 53 people dead, most of them Muslim.
