Delhi HC to hear Umar Khalid’s bail plea on Monday

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court is slated to hear on Monday the bail plea of former JNU scholar and student activist Umar Khalid, who has been behind bars since September 2020 under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in the “larger conspiracy” case related to the 2020 North-East Delhi riots.

As per the causelist published on the website of the Delhi HC, a bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Shalinder Kaur will take up the matter for hearing on October 7.

In July this year, a bench of Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Girish Kathpaliya had issued a notice and asked the Delhi Police to file its reply to Khalid’s bail plea.

With the appointment of Justice Kait as Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, the matter has been re-notified before a bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Shalinder Kaur.

Earlier, Justice Amit Sharma of the Delhi High Court recused himself from hearing Khalid’s plea. After this, a bench presided over by Justice Prathiba M. Singh directed the matter to be listed before a different combination on July 24.

A Delhi court on May 28 rejected Khalid’s application seeking bail on the grounds of delay in completion of trial proceedings and parity with other co-accused who had been enlarged on bail.

Before this, a trial court in April 2022 dismissed Khalid’s first bail application, and later the Delhi High Court also rejected his appeal.

Khalid, in February this year, withdrew his special leave petition filed before the Supreme Court seeking bail due to a “change in circumstances”, and sought liberty to apply afresh for bail before the trial court.

Khalid, who has been in custody since September 2020, has been booked under the stringent anti-terror law UAPA and several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).