India’s top court denies bail to Muslim activists despite five years in jail without trial

Ruling comes just a week after US lawmakers urged Indian authorities to grant fair and timely trial to one of the jailed activists

India’s Supreme Court on Monday denied bail to two Muslim activists who have been languishing in jail without trial over a conspiracy charge linked to one of the country’s deadliest episodes of sectarian violence.

Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam were arrested five years ago under the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act for allegedly inciting rioting in the capital Delhi.

The counterterrorism law allows prolonged detention of a suspect without trial or charge.

The violence left 53 people dead, most of them Muslims, and took place amid mass protests against a controversial 2019 citizenship law that critics said discriminated against the religious minority.

The Supreme Court granted bail to five accused in the same case but noted that Mr Khalid and Mr Imam had a "central role in the conspiracy”.

It also said the delay in putting them on trial was not a sufficient ground for granting bail.

"Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam stand on a qualitatively different footing as compared to other accused," the court said.

The court last month reserved its ruling on a separate special leave petition filed by the suspects challenging a September order of the Delhi High Court that refused them bail.

Prosecutors representing the Delhi police had opposed Mr Khalid and Mr Imam's requests for bail, claiming the violence was not spontaneous but a deliberate plot intended to tarnish India's global image.

The prosecutors claimed that both student activists had made provocative speeches at the time and instigated violence. Their lawyers said there was no evidence linking them to the violence and denied the charges against them.

File. Security personnel patrol a street following sectarian riots in Delhi on 28 February 2020 (AFP via Getty)

In the wake of the 2020 violence, the Delhi police charged dozens of Muslims in similar cases and held them in prolonged detention. Many of the cases unravelled because the police were unable to provide evidence linking the detainees to the violence.

Mr Khalid on Monday said he was "really happy for others who got bail", according to his partner Banojyotsna Lahiri. “So relieved," he told her, adding that "this is life now".

Mr Khalid’s bail pleas have been rejected by different courts on at least five separate occasions. He was allowed two brief releases in 2024 and 2025 to attend family weddings.

Mr Imam's uncle expressed shock over the apex court's refusal to grant bail to his nephew. “I am very shocked to learn about the judgment. I had high hopes that the court would grant bail this time, as every point during the arguments indicated that Mr Sharjeel Imam is innocent," Arshad Imam was quoted as saying by PTI news agency.

"Still, as an Indian, I respect the verdict of the court. I am hopeful that my nephew is innocent and he will definitely get bail, no matter how much delay there is.”

Aakar Patel from Amnesty International India welcomed the court’s decision to grant bail to five of those accused, but said “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,” he said.

He argued that the Supreme Court imposed exceptionally restrictive conditions on Mr Khalid and Mr Imam for any future bail applications. “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.”

Mr Patel added: “This judgment underscores a deeply worrying pattern in which prolonged pre-trial detention is becoming normalised. Justice cannot prevail while individuals remain imprisoned for years without trial for exercising their right to peaceful protest.”

Last week, eight US lawmakers wrote to India's ambassador in Washington expressing concern over Mr Khalid's prolonged pretrial detention. They urged Indian authorities to grant him a fair and timely trial.

"Umar Khalid has been detained without bail for 5 years under UAPA, which independent human rights experts have warned may contravene international standards of equality before the law, due process and proportionality,” they said.

“India must uphold the rights of individuals to receive a trial with reasonable time or be released and be presumed innocent until proven guilty."

New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani wrote a note of support to Mr Khalid last week. "I think of your words on bitterness often, and the importance of not letting it consume oneself. It was a pleasure to meet your parents. We are all thinking of you," it read.

International human rights groups have also repeatedly urged Khalid’s and Imam's release, saying their detention suppresses dissent and breaches fundamental legal protections.