Judge Amit Sharma Steps Down from Umar Khalid’s Bail Hearing in Delhi Riots Case
On Monday, Delhi High Court judge Amit Sharma recused himself from hearing Umar Khalid’s bail application in a UAPA case linked to the alleged larger conspiracy of the Delhi Riots 2020. The division bench, led by Justice Prathiba M Singh, has listed the matter before another bench, subject to the order of the acting chief justice of the Delhi High Court. The new hearing is scheduled for July 24.
Umar Khalid, a former JNU student leader, has been in custody since September 2020. He is accused in the larger conspiracy of the Delhi Riots 2020 case. Despite filing charge sheets and supplementary charge sheets, the investigation is still ongoing. His bail petition was dismissed by the trial court, and he has now moved to the High Court.
On May 28, Delhi’s Karkardooma Court refused to grant regular bail to Umar Khalid. The trial court referred to the Delhi High Court’s order, which stated that the allegations against Khalid were prima facie true and that he did not deserve bail. Special judge Sameer Bajpai noted that the High Court had thoroughly analyzed the case and concluded that the allegations were prima facie true, applying Section 43D(5) of UAPA against Khalid.
The trial court also mentioned that the High Court had conducted a surface analysis of the evidence’s probative value and concluded that a prima facie case was made against Khalid. The court emphasized that it could not re-analyze the facts of the case as the High Court had already dismissed Khalid’s criminal appeal, and he had withdrawn his petition from the Supreme Court.
Umar Khalid had sought regular bail under Section 437 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, read with Section 43D(5) of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967.
Doubts Revealed
Judge Amit Sharma -: Amit Sharma is a judge at the Delhi High Court. Judges are people who make decisions in courts about whether someone has broken the law or not.
Recused -: Recused means that Judge Amit Sharma decided not to be part of the case anymore. Sometimes judges step away from cases for various reasons, like if they think they can’t be fair.
Umar Khalid -: Umar Khalid is a former student leader from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). He has been in jail since September 2020 because of accusations related to the Delhi Riots.
Bail -: Bail is when someone who is in jail asks the court to let them go home while they wait for their trial. If the court agrees, the person can leave jail but must promise to come back for their trial.
UAPA -: UAPA stands for Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. It is a law in India that is used to prevent and punish activities that are against the country, like terrorism.
Delhi Riots 2020 -: The Delhi Riots happened in February 2020. It was a time when there was a lot of fighting and violence in parts of Delhi, and many people were hurt or killed.
Trial Court -: A trial court is the first court where a case is heard. This is where the judge looks at the evidence and decides if the person did something wrong.
Prima Facie -: Prima facie means ‘at first look’ or ‘on the face of it.’ It means that the trial court thought the evidence seemed to show that Umar Khalid might have done something wrong, even if they haven’t looked at everything in detail yet.
Bench -: A bench is a group of judges who sit together to hear a case. In this context, it means that another group of judges will look at Umar Khalid’s bail request.
