In a sharply worded order, the Supreme Court on Monday refused to grant bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in the 2020 northeast Delhi riots case, while allowing conditional bail to five other accused, drawing a clear distinction between their alleged roles.

A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N.V. Anjaria held that the material placed before the court suggested that Khalid and Imam played a “central role” in the alleged conspiracy, placing them on a different footing from the remaining accused. The court said that despite their prolonged incarceration, the legal bar under stringent anti-terror laws continues to apply.

At the same time, the apex court granted bail to Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa ur Rehman, Mohd Saleem Khan, and Shadab Ahmad, noting that their cases did not meet the same statutory threshold at this stage of proceedings.

Explaining its reasoning, the court said the prosecution had established a prima facie case against Khalid and Imam under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), making them ineligible for bail at this point. The bench clarified that the ongoing trial alone would determine guilt or innocence, but bail could not be justified based on the available record.

The verdict was delivered after the court had reserved its order on December 10, following extensive arguments by senior lawyers representing the accused and the Delhi Police. Khalid, Imam, and others are accused of being key conspirators behind the February 2020 violence in northeast Delhi, which claimed 53 lives and injured over 700 people during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC).