Delhi riots case: SC judge P K Mishra recuses from hearing Umar Khalid's bail plea

New Delhi: Supreme Court Judge Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra recused himself from hearing the bail plea of former Jawaharlal Nehru Scholar and UAPA accused Umar Khalid in the Delhi riots and conspiracy case.

The other judge, in the two-judge bench of the Supreme Court, Justice A S Bopanna, was to hear the bail plea of accused Khalid in the larger conspiracy case of the Delhi riots.

Khalid was arrested in September 2020 and has been in jail since then.

Although he had moved to seek bail in the case many times before various courts—the Supreme Court, Delhi High Court, and other Courts—but he was unable to get bail from any courts so far.

Today, Justice Bopanna said, this will come before some other bench. There is some difficulty on my brother's part.

The former JNU student and activist Umar Khalid, accused in a UAPA (Unlawful Activities and Prevention Act) case related to the alleged conspiracy behind the North East Delhi riots in February 2020, had moved the Apex Court seeking bail in the case.

The accused, Umar, had moved the Top Court after his plea was rejected by the Delhi High Court in the case.

The case pertains to the alleged larger conspiracy in connection with the Delhi riots of 2020, lodged under the stringent anti-terrorist law UAPA and several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Delhi Police filed the first chargesheet on September 16, 2020. Since then, five supplementary chargesheets have been filed. The matter was at the stage of scrutiny of documents supplied along with chargesheets.

In this case, 20 people, including Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Tahir Hussain, Natasha Narwal, Devangna Kalita, Safoora Zargar, Ishrat Jahan, and others, have been arraigned as accused. Two accused persons, Suleman Siddiqui alias Salman and Amanullah, have been declared proclaimed offenders in 2020.

All the accused were charged under the stringent UAPA for the alleged larger conspiracy of the Delhi riots. (UNI)