Delhi court discharges Umar Khalid, Khalid Saifi in stone-throwing case linked to 2020 Delhi riots

New Delhi,Dec 03: Delhi's Karkardooma Court on Saturday discharged Umar Khalid and Khalid Saifi of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in a stone-pelting case amid the 2020 northeast Delhi riots.

The Delhi Police had strongly opposed the interim bail plea of Khalid, warning his release will likely cause "unrest in society".

Khalid has moved an application before Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat seeking interim bail for two weeks for his sister's marriage.

The FIR in the case was registered on the basis of the statement of Constable Sangram Singh who said a riotous mob had pelted stones on Main Karawal Nagar Road, besides setting ablaze several vehicles in a nearby parking lot on February 24, 2020. Khalid is accused in several other cases and facing charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in connection with the larger conspiracy behind the riots and these matters are pending in court, as reported by PTI.

The duo will continue to remain in jail as both have not received bail so far in the case related to the larger conspiracy of Delhi riots registered under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), Ilyas said.

''By the grace of Almighty Allah and due to the continuous and exemplary efforts of senior advocate Triderp Pais and his team, Umar Khalid and Khalid Saifi has been discharged in the Delhi riot case of FIR 101. ''Let us hope they will also be discharged in FIR 59/2020. We are very happy that he has been discharged. We are positive that he will be discharged from the other court as well,'' Ilyas told PTI over phone.

He said the ''battle has been quite tough. ''The charges against him (Khalid) have been fabricated and we are very hopeful that he will be out of the jail soon. My son has been quite tough and has always consoled us whenever we visited him. Meeting him was very difficult because of the charges levied against him,'' he added.

Special Public Prosecutor Madhukar Pandey confirmed that Khalid and Saifi were discharged in the matter by the court of Additional Sessions Judge Pulastya Pramachala. The Karawal Nagar police station had registered an FIR against both accused along with others under various provisions of the IPC, including rioting and criminal conspiracy along with the sections of the Arms Act and the Prevention of Damage to Property Act.

The investigation of the case was later transferred to the Crime Branch.