The Supreme Court has refused to grant bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam

The Supreme Court on Monday denied bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, stating that they held a “higher position” in the alleged larger conspiracy behind the February 2020 Northeast Delhi riots. At the same time, the court granted conditional bail to five other accused in the case. A bench led by Justice Aravind Kumar granted bail to Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, Mohammad Salim Khan, and Shadab Ahmad. The court said it must examine each accused separately and assess the specific role attributed to them. It also considered whether continued detention served a lawful purpose.

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The Supreme Court declined bail pleas filed by Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam.

The bench clarified that this approach does not dilute the prosecution’s conspiracy case. Nor does it decide comparative guilt at this stage. Instead, it ensures that courts do not apply pretrial detention automatically and that legal safeguards operate with fairness and proportionality. The court noted that the prosecution placed Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam on a distinctly different footing from the other accused. The narrative and evidence against them, the bench said, required courts to apply stricter standards while considering issues of culpability and parity.

The bench further observed that the prosecution material, on its face, showed that Khalid and Imam played essential and formative roles in the alleged conspiracy. Their involvement appeared to include planning, mobilisation, and strategic coordination. As a result, the statutory bar on bail under Section 43D(5) of the UAPA applied to them.

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