Umar Khalid, who is an accused in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case, on Thursday argued before the Delhi High Court that there was no allegation of violence against him..The argument was made by Khalid's counsel Senior Advocate Trideep Pais before the division bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Shalinder Kaur..With regard to WhatsApp group conversations cited as evidence by the Delhi Police, Pais said Khalid was part of three groups, but barely sent messages on those groups."Merely being on a group is not any indication of anything wrong, in this case I have not even said anything. I only shared the location of a protest site when someone asked for it. Someone sent me a message. If someone chooses to inform me, it is not attributable to me. Anyway, there was no criminality in the message," Khalid stated.Pais was countering allegations put forth by the Delhi Police against Khalid and said,"Posting messages regarding how the protest will be organised have not been attributed to me by the star witness. I sent only 5 messages, I have replied to messages asking location of protest, a message to de-escalate...I have not posted a single message regarding any mobilisation, no allegation comes on me from the chats. I have not said anything, I have been roped in.".The Court also noted that Khalid was not part of the Jamia Awareness WhatsApp group and the statements recorded of the witnesses that Khalid formed the group is mere hearsay."There is no recovery from me, no destruction of any CCTV," it was submitted..Pais submitted that he was pressing for bail on the ground of Khalid's prolonged incarceration as an undertrial. He stated that delay in trial is also a factor to be considered, and added that he would argue on the point of charge as well.It was also submitted that Khalid was claiming parity with the four co-accused who have already been granted bail in the case."On parity, I have a strong case. I was not in Khureji, Devangana was there and she was given bail. Natasha, Devangana and Asif Iqbal Tanha have more role attributed to them and they have been given bail," he submitted.The Court will continue to hear arguments on March 4..Khalid was arrested in September 2020 and charged with criminal conspiracy, rioting, unlawful assembly as well as several other offences under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).He has been in jail since then. This is the second time he has approached the High Court for bail..The trial court had first denied bail to him in March 2022. He then approached the High Court. which also denied him relief in October 2022, prompting him to file an appeal before the top court.In May 2023, the Supreme Court sought the response of the Delhi Police in the matter. His plea before the top court was then adjourned 14 times.On February 14, 2024, he withdrew his bail plea from the Supreme Court citing a change in circumstances.A Supreme Court Bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal was slated to hear the matter on February 14 when Khalid's counsel, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, informed the Court that the bail plea was being withdrawn."We wish to withdraw due to a change of circumstances and move the trial court for appropriate relief," Sibal had said.On May 28, the trial court rejected his second bail petition, leading to the present appeal before the High Court.
