Today, the Delhi High Court issued a notice to the Delhi Police regarding Umar Khalid's bail application in a UAPA case associated with the alleged broader conspiracy behind the 2020 Delhi riots.

The division bench of Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Girish Kathpaliya issued a notice to the Delhi Police, scheduling the matter for further hearing on August 29. Umar Khalid, a former JNU student leader and one of the accused in the broader conspiracy related to the 2020 Delhi riots, has filed a bail application in the Delhi High Court under the UAPA.

Umar Khalid has been in custody since September 2020, with the investigation still ongoing despite the filing of charge sheets and supplementary charge sheets. His bail petition was dismissed by the trial court, and he has since appealed to the Delhi High Court. On May 28, the Karkardooma Court in Delhi denied regular bail to Khalid, referencing the Delhi High Court's earlier order which indicated that the allegations against him were prima facie valid and that he was not eligible for bail.

In his order, Special Judge Sameer Bajpai said, "The Hon'ble High Court analysed the case against the applicant and finally concluded that allegations against the applicant are prima-facie true and that the embargo created by Section 43D(5) of UAPA squarely applies against the applicant and the applicant does not deserve bail."

"It is clear that the Hon'ble High Court has minutely considered the role of the applicant and declined the relief as he desired," the Special Judge observed in the order passed on May 28.

The trial court also noted that the High Court conducted a preliminary review and concluded that a prima facie case had been established against the accused.

"As according to Vernon's case as relied upon by ld. counsel for the applicant, while considering bail, no 'deep analysis' of the facts of a case can be done, and only 'surface analysis' of the probative value of evidence has to be done and as such, the Hon'ble High Court has in fact done a complete surface analysis of the probative value of the evidence while considering the prayer of the applicant for grant of bail and after doing so it was concluded that prima-facie case is made out against the applicant," the trial court had noted in the order.

The court stated that since the Hon'ble High Court had previously dismissed the applicant's criminal appeal on October 18, 2022, and the applicant later withdrew his petition from the Supreme Court, the order issued by this Court on March 24, 2022, has attained finality. Consequently, the trial court is unable to reassess the facts of the case as requested by the applicant or grant the relief he sought. The trial court has rejected two of his bail applications.

Umar Khalid, who was arrested in September 2020, has been in custody since then. He had applied for regular bail under Section 437 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, read with Section 43D(5) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.