Delhi Court Rejects Umar Khalid’s Interim Bail Plea to Care for Ailing Mother

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Tuesday denied the interim bail plea of jailed activist Umar Khalid to attend uncle's Chehlum, care for ailing mother.

Judge Sameer Bajpai of Additional Sessions was hearing Khalid's appeal for 15 days of interim bail so he could attend his uncle's 40-day Chehlum rite and take care of his mother, who is going to have surgery.   

‘Bail is the Rule, Jail the Exception’: Supreme Court Raises Questions Over Earlier Bail Ruling

The Delhi court's ruling was made just one day after the Indian Supreme Court firmly reaffirmed that, even in situations covered by the strict UAPA law, “bail is the rule and jail the exception.”

A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan expressed serious concerns over an earlier verdict that denied bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in the Delhi riots conspiracy case.

The bench noted that the prior ruling seemed to weaken the precedent set by a bigger Supreme Court bench in the historic Union of India v. KA Najeeb case.

"They cannot dilute, circumvent or disregard binding precedent," Justice Bhuyan said, pointing out that two judges who denied bail to Khalid ignored a binding three-judge bench judgment of the Supreme Court which said bail is rule and jail an exception.

"The statutory embargo of Section 43D(5) UAPA must remain a circumscribed restriction that operates subject to the guarantee of Articles 21 and 22 of the Constitution. Therefore, we have no manner of doubt in stating that even under the UAPA, bail is the rule and jail is the exception," the bench held.

Umar Khalid and a number of others have been charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and other sections of the Indian Penal Code for allegedly being one of the "masterminds" behind the 2020 northeast Delhi riots, which resulted in over 700 injuries and 53 fatalities.

The violence had erupted during mass protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).