New Delhi: The Supreme Court today denied bail to student activists Sharjeel Imam and Umar Khalid, who had challenged the Delhi High Court order denying them bail in a case filed under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, or (UAPA), linked to the alleged larger conspiracy behind the 2020 Delhi riots.

The judgment was read out by a bench led by Justice Aravind Kumar.

The Supreme Court granted bail to five others named in the case: Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, Mohd Saleem Khan, and Shadab Ahmed.

The Delhi Police have said the offences they committed involved a deliberate attempt to destabilise the state, and cannot be termed as spontaneous protests. They launched a well-orchestrated "pan-India" conspiracy aiming at "regime change" and "economic strangulation", the police have said.

The conspiracy was allegedly planned to coincide with the official visit of US President Donald Trump to India, with the intention of drawing international media attention and globalising the issue of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the investigators had told the court. The issue of CAA was carefully chosen to serve as a "radicalising catalyst" camouflaged in the name of "peaceful protest", they said.

Source: NDTV