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Umar Khalid gets interim bail: How long was he in jail? What are the charges against him?
Umar Khalid's interim bail conditions include not contacting any witness or any person in connection with the case, and not using social media.
A Delhi court on Wednesday granted seven days interim bail to activist Umar Khalid to attend a family wedding. The former JNU student was granted a seven-day reprieve by additional sessions judge Sameer Bajpai.
How long Umar Khalid has been jailed?
Khalid has been in jail since September 13, 2020, under sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). The activist has moved the court multiple times seeking bail on the grounds of parity, trial delays and prolonged incarceration. Hearings over his pleas have seen multiple adjournments and dismissals over the years.
What are the charges against Umar Khalid?
Umar Khalid is accused of larger conspiracy to incite communal violence and disrupt law and order during the 2020 northeast Delhi riots. Police allege that the protesters used “larger anger” against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) as a cover to provoke riots.
Police allege that Khalid made ‘provocative’ speeches that increased communal tensions in the lead-up to the riots. He is also accused of organising the anti-CAA protests and coordinating with other activists to ‘incite violence’. Other charges against Khalid under UAPA include seeking financial and logistical help from abroad to incite protests and riots in India.
Also read | 2020 Delhi riots: No call for violence, no connection with 'co-conspirators', Sharjeel Imam tells HC
What Umar Khalid told court?
The former JNU student leader argued before the Delhi high court on December 7 that the Delhi Police was yet to recover any physical evidence showing his complicity in connection with the riots and alleged conspiracy.
Khalid also claimed that the police had not levelled any allegations against him regarding procurement, receipt, or raising of funds, or his involvement in any terrorist activity related to his role in the larger conspiracy related to the riots.
He also accused the police of not listening to his entire speech, which allegedly incited the riots, but relying on selective portions “that suited some kind of an outrage a politician wanted to market”.
“The only material against me is regarding a speech delivered in Maharashtra. There is no reaction from the crowd. It is a speech invoking Gandhian principles of non-violence and saying that we should protest against this law [CAA]. Absolutely no resonance of that in Delhi,” senior advocate Trideep Pias appearing for Khalid told court.
