SC Rejects Bail Pleas of Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, Grants Relief to Five Co-Accused
Supreme Court rejects bail for Khalid, Imam; frees five others.
The Supreme Court of India on Monday firmly denied bail to former JNU student leader Umar Khalid and activist Sharjeel Imam in the alleged larger conspiracy behind the 2020 northeast Delhi riots, holding that grave considerations of national security and maintenance of public order must prevail over pleas highlighting prolonged pre-trial incarceration spanning several years.
A two-judge bench led by Justices Aravind Kumar and NV Anjaria pronounced the split verdict after hearing exhaustive arguments on December 10, 2025, in appeals filed against the Delhi High Court's September 2 order that had similarly refused bail to the accused in the high-profile Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act case probed by Delhi Police.
In a partial relief, the apex court directed the release on bail of five other co-accused in the same FIR—student activists Gulfisha Fatima and Meeran Haider, Jamia Coordination Committee member Shifa Ur Rehman, Mohd Saleem Khan, and Shadab Ahmed—distinguishing their roles from those of Khalid and Imam based on the material placed on record.
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Representing Delhi Police, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Additional Solicitor General SV Raju vehemently opposed any concession, describing the communal violence that claimed over 50 lives as the culmination of a "deep-rooted, pre-planned and meticulously designed conspiracy" intended to destabilise national sovereignty, with evidence allegedly linking all accused through a shared criminal objective.
Senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Siddhartha Dave, Salman Khurshid, and Sidharth Luthra argued passionately for the petitioners, stressing violations of personal liberty due to extended detention without trial commencement, but the court maintained that the seriousness of allegations against Khalid and Imam warranted continued judicial custody pending further proceedings.
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