T he Supreme Court is hearing the bail petitions of activists Umar Khalid, Gulfisha Fatima, Sharjeel Imam and others in the larger conspiracy case pertaining to the 2020 northeast Delhi riots.

Read: Khalid, co-accused used CAA protests to attempt ‘regime change’: Delhi Police to SC

In the hearing on Friday (October 31, 2025), the activists told the Supreme Court that they had been in jail for over five years without any evidence to show their involvement in the February 2020 Delhi riots, and said the continued incarceration amounted to “punishment without trial”.

The accused have assailed the Delhi High Court’s September 2 order denying them bail. Delhi Police had opposed their bail pleas, saying it was not a case of spontaneous riots but a case where riots were “planned well in a

See Full Page