The Supreme Court on Friday adjourned to September 19 bail pleas of activists Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Gulfisha Fatima and Meeran Haider in the UAPA case related to the alleged conspiracy behind the February 2020 riots in the national capital.
A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria said it received the files very late. The activists have challenged the September 2 Delhi high court order which denied bail to nine persons, including Khalid and Imam, saying "conspiratorial" violence under the garb of demonstrations or protests by citizens couldn't be allowed.
Those who faced bail rejection include Khalid, Imam, Fatima, Mohd Saleem Khan, Shifa Ur Rehman, Athar Khan, Meeran Haider, Abdul Khalid Saifi and Shadab Ahmed.
The bail plea of another accused Tasleem Ahmed was rejected by a different high court bench on September 2.
The high court said the Constitution affords citizens the right to protest and carry out demonstrations or agitations, provided they are orderly, peaceful and without arms and such actions must be within the bounds of law. -- PTI
