Court reserves order on bail plea of former JNU student Umar Khalid

A Delhi court on Monday reserved for May 28 its order on the bail plea of former JNU student Umar Khalid, who is an accused in the case of alleged larger conspiracy behind the 2020 northeast Delhi communal riots.

Khalid has been booked under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and has been in jail since September 2020.

Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Bajpai, who was hearing the second bail plea of Khalid before the special court, said that the order will be pronounced on May 28.

Special Public Prosecutor Amit Prasad filed his written submissions against Khalid's plea.

Earlier, Prasad had argued against granting him bail, saying Khalid's WhatsApp chat revealed that he was in the habit of creating social media narratives to influence bail hearings.

Khalid's counsel disputed this argument, asking whether sharing WhatsApp messages was a criminal or terror act.