Guwahati: Umar Khalid walked out Tihar Jail on Friday following an earlier December 12 ruling by a Delhi Court granting him an interim bail of seven days to attend his sister’s wedding.
A Delhi court on December 12 granted student activist Umar Khalid a week’s interim release in the wider conspiracy case of the 2020 Northeast Delhi riots.
Khalid was given bail for a week beginning December 23 by Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat of the Karkardooma Court.
Khalid has been granted bail for attending his sister’s wedding on December 28. He must give himself up on December 30. He asked for a two-week temporary bond so he could attend the wedding.
The detailed order is awaited.
Khalid’s advocate, senior advocate Tridip Pais, promised the court during the arguments on November 6 that if granted interim bail for his sister’s wedding, he would not speak to the media or conduct any interviews.
He added that he will follow any guidelines set forth by the court, including disclosing his real-time location.
The Delhi police had previously claimed that Khalid’s release on temporary bail may cause riots. The interim bail request made on behalf of Khalid was opposed by a report that the Delhi Police had filed at Karkardooma Court.
The senior advocate also brought up instances where the accused had been granted interim bail under the UAPA. He also brought up the case of Siddique Kappan, in which the Supreme Court had issued temporary bail with the restriction that no contact with the media be made. In this situation as well, the same restriction may be put in place.
Pais had said, “Siddique Kappan was granted interim bail by the Supreme Court. A condition was imposed. Please see the condition put — the same condition may be put on my client. During his (Khalid’s) visit, he shall not give any media interviews. Not media public persons… Agreed I won’t. Only family and relatives.”
The counsel also brought up the situation of co-accused Ishrat Jahan, who received a 10-day interim bail to consummate her own marriage.
On the other hand, Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Amit Prasad had argued against the bail request. He asserted that other rulings referenced do not apply to the case of Umar Khalid and that the Supreme Court granted interim bail in the case of Siddique Kappan.
SPP submitted that here we are in a situation where his bail has been rejected. “So far as Siddique Kappan is concerned, it was by Supreme Court… if it is passed by this court, then they will say freedom of expression will be agitated. Tomorrow everybody will say.” Delhi police had filed a status report on the interim bail plea. The fact of wedding has been verified by the police.