“I can demonstrate in twenty minutes that there is no case at all,” Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal pleaded before the Supreme Court on Thursday as a Bench comprising Justices Bela Trivedi and Dipankar Datta adjourned the hearing of activist and former JNU scholar Umar Khalid’s bail plea once again owing to the paucity of time. The court directed the matter to be listed on November 1 within the first five items on that day.
Mr. Khalid has been arrested and charged under the anti-terror legislation Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967 (UAPA), on allegations of being part of a larger conspiracy responsible for the North East Delhi riots of February 2020. He moved the top court in April this year after he was denied bail by the Karkardooma Court in March 2022 and the Delhi High Court in October 2022.
September 13 marked three years since the activist’s arrest — with the trial court yet to frame charges in his case and the Supreme Court adjourning his bail hearing seven times since issuing notice on the plea. The reasons for the repeated adjournments range from the police seeking more time to file their reply, a judge recusing himself, and the case being listed on a miscellaneous day, to paucity of time and the unavailability of Mr. Khalid’s counsel.
Here is a timeline of the progress of Umar Khalid’s bail plea at the Supreme Court.
Timeline of events
May 18, 2023: As the matter came up for hearing at the Supreme Court for the first time, a Bench comprising Justices A.S. Bopanna and Hima Kohli issued notice on the bail plea and sought a response from the Delhi Police within a period of six weeks. The Bench granted leave to Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal appearing on behalf of Mr. Khalid, to seek an urgent listing of the bail plea before the vacation Bench. However, Mr. Sibal indicated that they would wait for the matter to be heard after the Court’s summer vacation.
Mr. Khalid approached the apex Court after the Delhi High Court refused to grant him bail in October last year, saying that the allegations against him were prima facie true and constituted a “terrorist act” under the UAPA. The Court also observed that the anti-CAA protests “metamorphosed into violent riots,” which “prima facie seemed to be orchestrated at the conspiratorial meetings” and that Mr. Khalid’s active involvement in the protests was evinced from the statements of the witnesses.
July 12, 2023: As the matter came up for hearing after six weeks, the Delhi police sought more time to file its reply, saying that the chargesheet was “voluminous.” Responding to this, Mr. Sibal pointed out to the Bench that Mr. Khalid had been in jail for two years and that a hearing on his plea for personal liberty should not be delayed any longer. Subsequently, the Bench of Justices AS Bopanna and MM Sundresh posted the matter for hearing on July 24.
Realising that the decided day falls on a Monday when the Supreme Court generally has a heavy board of fresh matters, advocate Rajat Nair appearing on behalf of the Delhi Police sought an accommodation to have the matter listed on Tuesday instead. Dismissing such a request, the Bench remarked — “It is for us to decide whether the board is heavy or not. This is a matter which may take one or two minutes.”
July 24, 2023: A Bench of Justices A.S. Bopanna and Bela M. Trivedi adjourned the hearing by one week after a letter seeking adjournment was circulated by Mr. Khalid’s counsel.
August 9, 2023: The matter was listed before a Bench comprising Justices A.S. Bopanna and Prashant Kumar Mishra, however, as soon as the hearing began, Justice Bopanna remarked — “This will come before some other bench. There is some difficulty on part of my brother.” Owing to Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra’s recusal without any explanation being recorded, the matter was adjourned to August 17, to be taken up by another bench.
August 17, 2023: The bail plea was initially listed for hearing again before the Bench comprising Justice A.S. Bopanna and Prashant Kumar Mishra despite the latter’s recusal being recorded in the earlier hearing. The matter was later dropped from the cause list and not heard.
August 18, 2023: The revised Bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M. Trivedi adjourned the hearing for two weeks after pointing out that the matter needs to be heard on a non-miscellaneous day as it required an elaborate hearing of arguments. As per the existing protocol, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays are non-miscellaneous days in the Supreme Court when regular hearings are held, whereas fresh matters are taken up on Mondays and Fridays.
September 5, 2023: The bail hearing was adjourned for one more week due to the unavailability of Mr. Sibal since he was appearing before the Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud in the case relating to the abrogation of Article 370, which resulted in the revocation of the special status of the State of Jammu and Kashmir.
Expressing her disapproval over the request for adjournment, Justice Trivedi remarked, “Mr. Sibal is known to be busy. We do not wait for any particular senior counsel.” The Bench finally decided to adjourn the hearing to the next week,, saying this would be the “last opportunity” to hear the plea.
September 12, 2023: A Bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M. Trivedi admitted the bail plea but agreed to hear it only after four weeks saying that the case would have to be heard and decided after going through the documentary evidence. “We will grant leave now and list the case after four weeks... You have to show us what evidence is available and how it does not match with the charges against you,” Justice Bose said, addressing Mr. Sibal.
October 12, 2023: A Bench of Justices Bela Trivedi and Dipankar Datta adjourned the hearing of the bail plea to November 1 citing ‘paucity of time.’ Pleading that the Court hear the matter, Mr. Sibal said that he would need just 20 minutes to show that there was no case against Mr. Khalid. He apprised the Bench that the accusations of conspiracy against his client were vague and that the trial court had not yet framed charges in the case, despite Mr. Khalid being in jail as an undertrial for nearly three years.
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