Activists Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and Gulfisha Fatima, who are accused of being part of a “larger conspiracy” behind the 2020 Delhi riots, on Friday told the Supreme Court that they did not make calls for violence and had been behind bars for more than five years, Live Law reported.

Khalid told a bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and NV Anjaria that he was not in Delhi when the riots broke out, while Imam said that he had only called for peaceful blockades, Bar and Bench reported. Fatima said that no evidence of violence was found at the protest sites where she was present.

The Supreme Court adjourned the matter till Monday to hear the bail application of their co-accused – Meeran Haider and Shifa Ur Rehman – along with the Delhi Police.

The five activists have challenged a judgement issued by the Delhi High Court on September 2, dismissing their bail applications.

They had been arrested between January and September 2020 in connection with the communal violence that broke out in North East Delhi in February 2020 between supporters of the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act and those opposing it. The violence had left 53 dead and hundreds injured. Most of those killed were Muslims.

Khalid, Imam, Fatima, Haider and Rehman were charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, the Arms Act and sections of the Indian Penal Code.

On Monday, the Supreme Court directed the Delhi Police to submit their response to the bail petitions of the five activists by Friday.

In a 177-page affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, the Delhi Police on Thursday opposed their petitions, arguing that their alleged actions were part of a coordinated “regime change operation” carried out under the guise of civil dissent.

The police also alleged that Khalid was the chief conspirator behind the riots and had mentored Imam in planning the first phase of the violence.

During the hearing on Friday, advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing Fatima, told the Supreme Court that after being arrested on April 11, 2020, she had been in custody for more than five years and five months, Live Law reported.

Singhvi added that the chargesheet in the case had also been filed five years ago, but the trial had not begun yet. He noted that Fatima was the only woman in custody in the case now, as the other women had been granted bail.

Activists Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal, also accused in the matter, were granted bail in June 2021.

“If you get bail after six to seven years, what is the point?” Live Law quoted Singhvi as saying. He also noted that the matter before the trial court was at the stage of arguments on the framing of the charges.

“Merits don’t matter in this,” Live Law quoted the advocate as saying. “This is a distortion of the criminal justice system. The concept of liberty is that you don’t keep me in jail without trial.”

There was nothing connecting the riots to Fatima, Singhvi said, adding that there was no violence at the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protest sites linked to her.

Advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Khalid, told the Supreme Court that the prosecution had been delaying the trial and blaming the activist for it, Bar and Bench reported.

“Charge against me is conspiracy,” Bar and Bench quoted Sibal as saying. “There are 751 FIRs [filed in the matter]. Petitioner was not even in Delhi when the riots took place. If I am not there, how can the riots be connected to it. Out of 751, I was made party to only one.”

Sibal also said that no weapons or incriminating material had been recovered from Khalid, adding that there was no physical evidence of any violence against him, Live Law reported.

The only allegation against Khalid was that he delivered a speech in Maharashtra on February 17, 2020, the advocate said. However, this speech invoked Gandhian principles of non-violence and cannot be regarded as “provocative” by any stretch, he added.

Advocate Siddhartha Dave, representing Imam, contended that the police kept filing supplementary charge sheets till September 2024, which meant that the investigation went on for at least four years, Live Law reported. There was no delay on Imam’s part at least till 2024, he added.

Dave also noted that Imam had been in custody since January 25, 2020, in connection with other cases.

“To link my speeches to the riots is a bit of a stretch,” Live Law quoted the advocate as saying. “My speeches were in December 2019, two months before the riots [in February 2020]. And I was arrested and kept under custody in January 2020, a month before the riots in Delhi.”

Imam was also not an accused in any of the other riot cases, Dave said, adding that the activist had been granted bail in the cases linked to his speeches. He was in jail only because of the current case, the advocate said.

“What is the nature of speech,” Bar and Bench quoted the Supreme Court as asking.

“That I called for chakka jam,” Dave said in response. “Like you call for blockade. For the protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act.”

The advocate noted that the Imam did not make any calls for violence, Bar and Bench reported.

“See the speeches,” Bar and Bench quoted Dave as saying. “I abhor violence. No calling out for violence at all. Only peaceful protests.”

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