Delhi Riots Case: Same Court That Gave Bail to Ishrat Denies It to Umar – Why?

What reasons did the court give for dismissing Umar Khalid's bail plea?

Delhi’s Karkardooma Court rejected the bail plea of activist and former JNU student Umar Khalid, on 24 March, in connection with the Delhi Riots ‘larger conspiracy’ case.

(Photo: The Quint)

Delhi's Karkardooma Court, on 24 March, had rejected the bail plea of activist and former JNU student Umar Khalid, in connection with the Delhi Riots 'larger conspiracy' case. The court had deferred the pronouncement of the order three times in a row.

Khalid was arrested in 2020 and slapped with the stringent UAPA charges along with 17 others on the accusations of "masterminding" the 2020 Delhi Riots, which had left 53 people dead and over 700 injured.

But only six of them have received bail so far. While Faizan Khan, Safoora Zargar, Asif Iqbal Tanha, Natasha Narwal, and Devangana Kalita were given bail by the Delhi High Court, Ishrat Jahan recently managed to get bail from the same sessions court that denied bail to Umar Khalid.

Khalid's lawyer, meanwhile, argued that allegations against him were made out of thin air. What reasons did the court give for dismissing his bail plea? How did the court grant bail to Ishrat Jahan, but not Umar Khalid?

We discuss these questions with The Quint's Legal Editor, Vakasha Sachdev. Tune in!