New Delhi: Indian District court approved one-week interim bail to ex Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Umar Khalid, who is arrested in a case related to the northeast Delhi riots.
Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat granted relief to Khalid from December 23 to 30. This is for the first time Khalid will walk out of Tihar Jail since his arrest over two years ago in an Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act [UAPA] case connected with the north-east Delhi riots.
According to Indian Express, the judge instructed Khalid to surrender before the court upon the completion of his interim bail term and told him specifically not to seek any further extension of bail.
Khalid, a former student leader of JNU, had moved an application seeking two weeks’ interim bail for his sister’s wedding.
However, the Delhi Police opposed his bail plea. “The release of the applicant is further opposed as he is very likely to spread misinformation by use of social media during his interim bail period which cannot be prevented and is likely to cause unrest in the society. He may also influence witnesses,” the Delhi Police said in response to his bail petition.
Earlier this month, Umar Khalid along with United Against Hate member Khalid Saifi was discharged in one of the cases related to the Delhi riots by Delhi’s Karkardooma court. However, both continue to remain in jail as they are charged under the UAPA in another case related to an alleged larger conspiracy behind the riots. Both have been jailed for over two years now – Khalid was arrested in September 2020, and Saifi even earlier, in February 2020.
Umar Khalid was detained under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act [UAPA] and provisions of the Indian Penal Code for allegedly being a mastermind of the February 2020 riots, which had left 53 people dead and over 700 injured.
The violence had erupted during the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and National Register of Citizens. Umar Khalid was arrested by the Delhi Police in September 2020.
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