Delhi High Court rejects Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam’s renewed bail appeals

The September 30 ruling cites conditions set by the Supreme Court in January. The defence argued that prolonged detention and trial delay justified release.

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30 September 2026 · 2 min read

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Report prepared 30 Sept 2026, 12:42 pm IST · Event date shown above

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The September 30 ruling cites conditions set by the Supreme Court in January. The defence argued that prolonged detention and trial delay justified release.

Event / development: 30 Sept 2026
Location: Delhi

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The Delhi High Court on September 30 dismissed Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam’s appeals against the refusal of bail in the alleged larger-conspiracy case concerning the 2020 northeast Delhi riots. LiveLaw and the Indian Express reported the fresh outcome that morning. The case includes charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act; rejection of bail is not a finding of guilt.

LiveLaw reported that Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Dinesh Bhatt considered themselves bound by the Supreme Court’s January 5 conditions for a renewed application. Those conditions allowed Khalid and Imam to seek bail after examination of the protected prosecution witnesses, or after one year from that order, whichever came first. The January judgment’s paragraph 432 confirms this wording.

According to Bar & Bench’s September 30 court report, the High Court said the conditions had not yet been met and it could not modify the Supreme Court’s directions. The appeals challenged a trial-court order dated July 4. The January decision remains background to today’s separate High Court ruling.

The defence argued that the trial was not progressing and relied on subsequent Supreme Court decisions concerning delay and liberty. The prosecution, represented by Additional Solicitor General S. V. Raju, opposed release and said the two men’s alleged roles differed from those of co-accused granted bail. This account of today’s reasoning relies on the independently published court reports; the new written order was not available in the sources checked.