Delhi’s Karkardooma Court on Saturday rejected the regular bail pleas of Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) case related to the alleged larger conspiracy behind the Delhi riots of 2020.
Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Sameer Bajpai pronounced the order after hearing submissions from the counsel for the accused and the Delhi Police.
The accused had approached the trial court seeking regular bail after their earlier pleas were dismissed by the Supreme Court on January 5, 2026.
Sharjeel Imam’s bail application had argued that there were no significant developments even after six months of the Supreme Court judgment and that he has been in custody for nearly six years.
A separate bail application was also filed on behalf of Umar Khalid.
On June 13, the court issued notice to Delhi Police on Sharjeel Imam’s bail plea, while notice on Umar Khalid’s plea was issued on June 9.
The application filed by Sharjeel Imam, through Advocate Ahmad Ibrahim, highlighted significant subsequent developments after the Supreme Court judgment and pointed out that despite the passage of more than six months, the trial had not progressed even to the stage of framing of charges.
Arguments on the charge remain incomplete. The plea had also referred to observations in the Gulfisha Fatima case and other judgments, including the order dated May 22, 2026, in the Tasleem Ahmed case, where a coordinate bench had granted interim bail to a co-accused and referred the larger legal question on bail under Section 43D(5) of UAPA to a larger bench.
However, after hearing both sides, the court rejected the bail applications of both Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam.
