Jan 03, 2025 06:42 PM IST
Umar Khalid has been in custody since September 2020 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in a case linked to the 2020 Delhi riots.
Activist Umar Khalid, out on bail, is seen smiling and sharing a side hug with comedian Kunal Kamra in a photo shared by the latter on social media on Friday. This is the first public appearance of Umar Khalid, a former Jawaharlal Nehru University student leader, on social media after being granted bail.
Comedian Kunal Kamra shared the post on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, captioning it “Heart knows no concept of time.”
Bollywood actor Richa Chadha posted a heart emoji in the comment section. Another comment read, “No words for this pic. Amazing to see Umar back”.
Umar Khalid is out on a seven-day interim bail granted by a city court in Delhi on December 18 to attend a family wedding. While he had sought a 10-day bail, the court granted him relief for only seven days, from December 28 to January 3, under certain conditions. He was barred from using social media while out on bail and was only allowed to meet his friends and family.
He has to surrender to the jail authorities on the evening of January 3, 2025 as his bail period ends.
Charges Against Umar Khalid
Umar Khalid has been lodged in jail for over four years now, since September 13, 2020, under sections of the stringent Unlaw Activities (Prevention) Act in connection with the 2020 Delhi riots. He has been accused of a larger conspiracy to incite violence during communal clashes in Delhi in 2020 following protests over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
Delhi Police has alleged that Umar Khalid made ‘provocative’ speeches which led to increased tensions during the riots. He has also been charged for allegedly seeking financial help from abroad to incite violence in India.
Previous Requests For Bail
Throughout the last four years of custody, Umar Khalid has requested bail multiple times on grounds of parity and trial delays. However, his bail hearings were delayed or dismissed on several occasions.
In a recent bail hearing in the Delhi high court on December 7, 2024, Umar Khalid argued that the police had not yet shown any physical evidence linking him to the alleged conspiracies.
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