The Supreme Court will pronounce its verdict on January 5 on the bail pleas of activist Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and others accused in the alleged larger conspiracy behind the 2020 Delhi riots.A bench comprising Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria will deliver the decision. The court had reserved its orders on December 10 after hearing arguments from the Delhi Police, represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, and from the accused, represented by senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Singhvi, Siddhartha Dave, Salman Khurshid and Sidharth Luthra.The accused have been booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and provisions of the erstwhile IPC, with the police alleging they were “masterminds” of the violence that left 53 people dead and over 700 injured in northeast Delhi. The riots broke out amid protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).They approached the apex court after the Delhi High Court, in an order dated September 2, denied them bail in the “larger conspiracy” case linked to the February 2020 riots.
