Activist Umar Khalid withdrew his bail application from the Supreme Court, a week after the apex court postponed another hearing on his bail petition.
On behalf of Khalid, senior attorney Kapil Sibal stated that a “change in circumstances” had led his client to rescind the bail request.
The ex-JNU scholar has spent more than three years behind bars. He was taken into custody in September 2020 on allegations of criminal conspiracy related to the Delhi riots and under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
He petitioned the Supreme Court on April 6, 2023, after being denied bail by the Delhi High Court in October 2022 and a Karkardooma court in March 2022.
A court in December 2022 had discharged Khalid in matters involving stone pelting case, but he was kept behind bars in the UAPA case.
When the case was brought before the Supreme Court for the first time on May 18, of last year, a bench of Justices AS Bopanna and Hima Kohli sent notice of the bail petition to the Delhi Police. But hardly anything has been spoken on the issue since then.
His bail request has been postponed fourteen times in the ten months since he submitted a special leave petition to the Supreme Court. Khalid’s attorney asked for at least four of the 14 adjournments, including one that was made in conjunction with the Delhi police. The proceedings were postponed at least six times by the apex court. Additionally, a logistical problem resulted in the postponement of at least two hearings, and then Delhi police requested one more adjournment.
