The hearing has been postponed eleven times already. The bench was scheduled to break today after lunch to hear items that were partially heard, and Justices Bela M. Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal listed the matter next on January 31.
The Supreme Court postponed the hearing on Umar Khalid’s bail request in the Delhi Riots conspiracy case on Wednesday.
The matter was scheduled for January 31 by a bench consisting of Justices Bela M. Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal. The bench was scheduled to switch after noon to hear matters that were partially heard.
“We’re ready. Sadly, after lunch this bench will rise. Senior Advocate CU Singh filed an application for bail when the case was heard today.
“List by the 31st. High on board,” the Court gave the order in answer.
The hearing in this case has been postponed eleven times already.
Notably, both parties asked a “final” delay of the case, which the court granted on January 10. At that point, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, who was representing Khalid, informed the Court that he will be appearing before a Constitution Bench in another case. The Court was not willing to postpone the case and was ready to schedule it for January 17.
In response, Justice Mithal noted that as the solicitors were the ones requesting the adjournment, it should not be inferred that the Court was unwilling to hear the case.
After that, the hearing on the subject was scheduled for today, January 24, but it has since been postponed until January 31 once more.
Prior to this, the Court had postponed the bail plea hearing in November 2023 because neither side’s solicitors could appear.
In relation to the broader conspiracy case involving the Delhi Riots, Khalid has petitioned the top court to overturn a decision made by the Delhi High Court in October 2022 that denied him bail.
Under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), the former student leader and activist was charged with criminal conspiracy, rioting, unlawful assembly, and various other offences after being taken into custody by the Delhi Police in September 2020.
Since then, he has stayed incarcerated.
In March 2022, a Karkardooma court denied Khalid bail. After that, he went to the High Court, which likewise turned down his request for relief, leading him to file an appeal with the highest court.
The Supreme Court requested the Delhi Police’s response to the case in May 2023.
The Bench considering the case announced in July 2023 that the hearing will conclude in two minutes. Judge Prashant Kumar Mishra, however, declined to hear the plea in August.
The case was postponed until August 18 of that year in order to be scheduled for a non-miscellaneous day—Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday—during which in-depth hearings are held.
On September 5, 2023, the case was heard again by Justices Bela Trivedi and Dipankar Datta. Because Sibal, Khalid’s attorney, was unavailable, the meeting was postponed for one week.
A ‘last’ opportunity to present the case was given by the Court for September 12, 2023. Judges Aniruddha Bose and Bela Trivedi, however, stated that they intended to evaluate the bail plea based on documentary evidence when the issue was brought before them.
The case was brought before a bench of Justices Trivedi and Datta on October 11, 2023, after it was scheduled for hearing. The court stated that it was unable to hear the case because of time constraints. Then, November 1, 2023 was included to the list.
Meanwhile, Judges Bose and Trivedi heard a second plea from Khalid on October 10, 2023, which contested the validity of certain sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). It was marked with Khalid’s request for bail.
Upon the matter’s October 31 hearing, Khalid’s plea was filed alongside other petitions pertaining to violence in Tripura. Separating Khalid’s plea from the others was something the attorneys for the other petitioners had attempted to do. Nevertheless, the Court chose to consider each petition collectively.
On November 29, 2023, Khalid’s bail request was heard by a bench consisting of Justices Bela Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma. Sibal and the Delhi Police jointly requested that it be postponed till January 10. It was postponed to be heard today, January 10.
The new date of the hearing is January 31, 2024.