Responding to yesterday’s Supreme Court judgement denying bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam but granting bail to Meeran Haider, Gulfisha Fatima, Shifa Ur Rehman, Shadab Ahmed and Saleem Khan – human rights defenders who have spent more than five years in pre-trial detention on terrorism-related charges following their peaceful participation in protests against the discriminatory Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Aakar Patel, Amnesty International India’s Chair of Board, said:
“While we welcome the court’s decision to grant bail to their co-accused, it is shameful that Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam continue to be denied bail. Neither of these individuals should be in detention in the first place. They have been detained for more than five years without trial on politically motivated allegations – the charges against them should be dropped and their release should be unconditional.”
The Supreme Court also imposed exceptionally restrictive conditions on Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam for any future bail applications. It ruled that they will be permitted to seek bail only after the prosecution has completed the examination of its protected witnesses, or after one year from the date of the order, whichever comes earlier. These conditions effectively place their ability to submit further bail petitions at the discretion of the speed and conduct of the prosecution.
This judgment underscores a deeply worrying pattern in which prolonged pre-trial detention is becoming normalized
Aakar Patel, Amnesty International India’s Chair of Board
“Imposing a blanket one-year ban on bail, without any clear justification, unduly restricts the detainees’ right to seek regular judicial review of whether their detention remains lawful and necessary. This is even more troubling given that they have already been held for more than five years without trial,” said Aakar Patel.
“This judgment underscores a deeply worrying pattern in which prolonged pre-trial detention is becoming normalized. Justice cannot prevail while individuals remain imprisoned for years without trial for exercising their right to peaceful protest.”
Background
For more information on Umar Khalid’s case and the UAPA see here.
On 28 January 2020, Sharjeel Imam was detained for allegedly inciting communal violence through speeches delivered during protests in December 2019 and January 2020. On 1 April 2020, Meeran Haider was arrested on similar charges linked to the 2020 Delhi riots, despite his role in non-violent demonstrations. Gulfisha Fatima was arrested on 9 April, 2020, under multiple charges including rioting and assaulting a public servant, though she too had been involved in peaceful protest. Later that month, on 26 April, Shifa ur-Rehman, president of the Jamia Millia Islamia Alumni Association, was also detained for allegedly inciting violence. In each case, activists appear to have been targeted not for violence, but for their vocal opposition to the CAA and their participation in peaceful civic dissent.
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