New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday transferred the bail plea of former JNU student-activist Umar Khalid to another bench for hearing the alleged ‘larger conspiracy case’ linked to the 2020 Delhi riots.
During the course of the hearing, the bail plea was listed before a division bench, headed by Justice Mukta Gupta, in a change of roster. However, the bench noticed that the matter was earlier partly heard by a bench headed by Justice Siddharth Mridul. Accordingly, the plea has been transferred to the previous bench.
“List it before the same bench subject to order of the Chief Justice on Friday,” the bench said.
Khalid had approached the High Court with his appeal challenging the trial court order which denied him bail in connection with the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) case.
His alleged offensive speeches delivered at Amaravati during the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens were the basis of allegations against him in the riots case. During the last hearings, the petitioner submitted the materials and case laws detailing the meaning of the words ‘krantikari’ and ‘inquilab’ which was used by him in the speeches.
JNU scholars and activists Khalid, and Sharjeel Imam are among the nearly a dozen people involved in the alleged larger conspiracy case linked with the Delhi riots 2020, as per the Delhi Police. The riots broke out in the national capital in February 2020 as clashes between the anti-CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) and pro-CAA protesters took a violent turn.
The mayhem, which coincided with the then US President Donald Trump’s maiden trip to India, saw more than 50 people lose their lives and over 700 were injured.
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