Delhi riots: Umar Khalid gets bail in case related to criminal conspiracy, to remain in prison on UAPA charges

The case in which Umar Khalid was granted bail was registered on the statement of Constable Sangram Singh. (Photo-Facebook)

Former JNU student Umar Khalid was granted bail by a Delhi court in a case related to communal violence in northeast Delhi in February 2020. The court said that Khalid cannot be made to incarcerate in jail infinitely. The court noted that the investigation in the case has been completed and the charge sheet has also been filed. The court said that it is the case in which Umar Khalid was neither physically present at the scene of the crime nor was seen in any CCTV footage/viral video(s) of the crime scene. The court also noted that Khalid has also not been identified either by an independent public witness or any police witness that he was present at the crime scene. Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Yadav noted that even the CDR location of the mobile phone of the applicant was not found at the scene of the crime on the date of the incident.

However, Umar Khalid will remain in jail as he is accused in some other cases, including one related to the criminal conspiracy lodged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

The case in which Umar Khalid was granted bail was registered on the statement of Constable Sangram Singh who stated that on February 24, 2020 at about 2 PM, a large crowd gathered on the road in a locality in northeast Delhi and started pelting stones in which he and other police officials got injured as the mob also set the vehicles in a parking area nearby on fire, including motorcycle of the complainant.

According to the PTI, the court noted that the applicant has merely been roped in the matter on basis of his disclosure statement, fourth disclosure statement of co-accused Tahir Hussain and disclosure statement of co-accused Khalid Saifi. The court also added that no recovery of any sort has been effected from the applicant according to his disclosure statement.

The court rejected the prosecution’s argument that the applicant had been in regular contact with co-accused Tahir Hussain and Khalid Saifi over the mobile phone and opined that prima facie that does not in any way go on to establish the criminal conspiracy alleged against the applicant in the matter.

Granting the bail, the court said that the accused shall not tamper with the evidence or influence any witness in any manner and appear before the court on each date of hearing to attend the proceedings in accordance.