New Delhi: After his bail petition was rejected by the Supreme Court on Monday, January 5, in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case, while five others were granted bail, activist Umar Khalid reportedly told his partner, Banojyotsna Lahiri, “this is my life now.”
“I am really happy for the others, who got bail! So relieved,” Umar said.
When she said that she would visit him tomorrow, he replied, “Good good, aa jana. Ab yahi zindagi hai (Do come. This is my life now).”
She shared their brief conversation on X.
On Monday, the Supreme Court rejected the bail plea of Khalid and Sharjeel Imam but granted bail to Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, Mohd Saleem Khan and Shadab Ahmad.
The apex court said that there was a prima facie case against Khalid and Imam under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), and it does not justify their enlargement on bail.
Lahiri, a senior researcher at the Delhi University, met Umar Khalid during their student years. She was doing Masters in Jawaharlal Nehru University, while Khalid was a Bachelor of Arts student from Delhi University. They met while protesting the 2008 Batla House encounter at the Jamia Millia Islamia and began a relationship in 2013.
Nothing to say: Khalid’s father
Meanwhile, Umar Khalid’s father, SQR Ilyas, said he has “nothing to say.”
“I have no comment to offer. It is very unfortunate. The judgment is there, and I have nothing to say about it,” the distraught father said.
Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, and the other accused were booked under the draconian UAPA Act for allegedly being the “masterminds” of the 2020 Northeast Delhi riots, which left 53 Muslims dead and more than 700 injured.
The violence erupted during widespread protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
The accused moved the apex court, challenging a Delhi High Court order dated September 2 last year denying them bail in the “larger conspiracy” case of the February 2020 riots.
No bail to Umar but Gurmeet Ram Rahim’s gets 15th parole: Oppn
Opposition leaders raised questions over the bail denial, while pointing out that the rape convict Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim is granted consistent parole.
In a post on X, Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP John Brittas said, “The principle that ‘bail is the rule, jail the exception’ clearly does not apply when it comes to certain individuals.”
“No bail to Umar Khalid — detained for over 5 years under the draconian UAPA, with the trial yet to even begin. Pre-trial jail is not a punishment!!” Brittas said.
“Meanwhile, convicted rapist and murderer Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh (sentenced in 2017) has just been granted yet another 40-day parole — his 15th temporary release from prison since conviction. One languishes indefinitely without trial. The other enjoys repeated ‘jail vacations’ on demand,” he said.
Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, serving a 20-year jail term for raping two of his disciples, walked out of the Sunaria jail in Rohtak on Monday after he was granted a 40-day parole. This is the 15th time he has been granted since his conviction in the case in 2017.
The CPI(M) said in a post on X that the continued denial of bail is against the principles of natural justice. The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) is being used to crush dissent, it charged.
“The Supreme Court’s denial of bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, who have spent over five years in jail under the draconian UAPA without trial or conviction, is against the principles of natural justice,” the party said.
“Prolonged pre-trial incarceration violates the fundamental principle that bail is the rule, not jail, and undermines the constitutional right to liberty and a speedy trial. The continued use of UAPA to target dissenting voices reflects a disturbing pattern of repression and selective justice. We reiterate our demand for the release of all political prisoners,” it said.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Jha said the denial of bail raises “troubling questions.”
“While it is true that constitutional courts have the power and indeed the duty to grant bail where incarceration becomes unduly long, unjustified, or disproportionate. Yet, in the case of Umar Khalid and Sharjeel, the prevailing judicial view seems to be that the time already spent in jail is still not long enough, and that the delay in trial is not yet shocking or unconstitutional,” he said.
“This raises troubling questions about how much incarceration must be endured before constitutional protections are activated and achieved,” he added.
(With inputs from PTI)
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