What Is 2020 Delhi Riots Case? Why Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam Were Denied Bail

The Supreme Court has refused to grant bail to activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in the larger conspiracy case linked to the 2020 Delhi riots.

The two former student leaders had approached the apex court challenging a September 2 order of the Delhi High Court that had earlier denied them bail in the same matter.

The ruling keeps both men in custody as proceedings continue under stringent anti-terror and criminal law provisions, even as the case remains at the trial stage.

What the 2020 Delhi riots case is about

Communal violence erupted in northeast Delhi on February 24, 2020, amid protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the proposed National Register of Citizens. The clashes continued for several days and turned into one of the deadliest episodes of violence the capital has seen in decades.

More than 50 people, most of them Muslims, were killed, and over 700 others were injured. Investigators later alleged that the unrest was the result of a larger conspiracy rather than spontaneous violence.

Twenty individuals, including Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and former Aam Aadmi Party councillor Tahir Hussain, were booked for their alleged roles in planning and inciting the riots.

Police case and legal provisions invoked

The Delhi Police has charged Khalid and Imam under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, along with provisions of the erstwhile Indian Penal Code. Investigators have described them as the "masterminds" behind what they termed an organised and pre-planned attack.

Opposing bail, the police told courts that the riots were an "orchestrated, pre-planned and well-designed" assault on India's sovereignty. They also claimed that authorities acted "promptly, vigilantly, and effectively without any fear or favour" to control the situation and protect lives and property.

In submissions made to the high court in November last year, the police said 757 FIRs had been registered in connection with the riots. Investigations were pending in 273 cases, while trials were underway in 250 matters.

Arguments made by Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam

Umar Khalid, arrested in September 2020, has maintained that he was not in Delhi when the violence broke out. He told the court that he could not be kept behind bars "as if to say that I will punish you for your protests".

A former Jawaharlal Nehru University student, Khalid has received interim bail on limited occasions. He was allowed to attend his sister's wedding from December 16 to 29 last year, received seven days of interim bail in 2024 for another family wedding, and was granted similar relief in 2022.

Sharjeel Imam, arrested on January 28, 2020, argued that his detention predates the riots themselves. Seeking bail, he expressed anguish at being portrayed as a threat without a completed trial. "I would like to say that I am not a terrorist, as I have been called by the respondent (police). I am not an anti-national, as called by the State. I am a citizen of this country, a citizen by birth and I have not been convicted for any offence till now," senior advocate Siddhartha Dave said on his behalf.

Imam's counsel also contended that speeches alone could not constitute criminal conspiracy in the riots case.