Activist Umar Khalid has sought interim bail for two weeks in the February 2020 Delhi riots case to attend his sister’s wedding, reported Live Law on Monday.
On October 18, the Delhi High Court had denied bail to Khalid saying that the allegations against him were prima facie true and so Section 43D(5) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act prevents granting him bail.
The former Jawaharlal Nehru University student leader was booked under the provisions of the Arms Act and Prevention of Damage to Property Act for allegedly fuelling the riots in the national capital.
On November 18, Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat had listed the fresh bail application for hearing on November 25, reported Bar and Bench. The court has sought response from the prosecution after verifying Khalid’s application.
The case against Khalid pertains to clashes that had broken out February 23 and February 26, 2020, between supporters of the Citizenship Amendment Act and those opposing it in North East Delhi, leaving 53 dead and hundreds injured. Most of those killed were Muslims.
The Delhi Police claim the violence was part of a larger conspiracy to defame Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government and was hatched by those who organised the protests against the amended Citizenship Act.
While denying him bail last month, the High Court had said that demonstrations planned by Khalid and other activists against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Citizens were “not a typical protest” but were far more destructive.
The Delhi Police had arrested Khalid in the larger conspiracy case on September 13, 2020, and had filed a chargesheet against him on November 22 the same year.
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