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Delhi High Court Justice Amit Sharma on Monday recused himself from hearing former JNU student Umar Khalid’s bail plea in the police’s “larger conspiracy case” pertaining to the 2020 Northeast Delhi riots. The bail plea was listed before a division bench of Justices Prathiba Singh and Sharma after a change in the roster of judges dealing with the matter. “Subject to the orders of the Hon’ble Acting Chief Justice, list this matter before another bench, of which Justice Amit Sharma is not a member, on July 24 along with all the connected matters,” the bench said. Notably, Justice Sharma previously recused himself from hearing the bail pleas of other persons accused in the matter. This is Khalid’s second bail plea moved in the Delhi High Court — he first approached the court in early 2022 against a trial court order denying him bail in the case. On October 18, 2022, the Delhi High Court’s division bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Rajnish Bhatnagar denied bail to Khalid. In a 52-page judgment, the bench examined the phraseology used by Khalid in his speeches, holding that a call to revolution may affect many beyond those who were visibly present. The bench observed that Khalid’s name was recurrently mentioned from the beginning of the conspiracy till the culmination of the ensuing riots. “Different protected witnesses have stated the role of the appellant and other accused persons and about the open discussion on violence, riots, finance and weapons”. Agreeing with the trial court’s finding the bench had said that the trial court had looked at numerous witness statements wherein Khalid’s role in the “context of conspiracy and riots was apparent”. Khalid then moved the Supreme Court challenging the HC’s October 2022 order. Citing a “change in circumstances”, Khalid withdrew his bail plea from the Supreme Court on February 14, 2024. His lawyer, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal said, “We will try our luck in the trial court”. A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal before whom the petition was listed allowed the request and dismissed it as withdrawn. On May 28, the trial court rejected Khalid’s second bail in the case, pursuant to which he has moved the HC again. Apart from Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Gulfisha Fatima, Abdul Khalid Saifi, Athar Khan, Meeran Haider and Shadab Ahmed have also been booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in the First Information Report ( FIR ) 59/2020 for allegedly being the “masterminds” of the February 2020 riots, which left 53 people dead and over 700 injured. None
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