The Delhi High Court on Tuesday refused to grant bail to former JNU student Umar Khalid in a UAPA case related to the alleged conspiracy behind the riots here in February 2020. “There is no merit in the bail appeal. Bail appeal is dismissed,” said a bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Rajnish Bhatnagar.

Khalid, arrested by Delhi Police in September 2020, sought bail on grounds that he neither had any “criminal role” in the violence in the city’s north-east area nor any “conspiratorial connect” with any other accused in the case. The bail plea was opposed by the Delhi Police.

Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, and several others have been booked under the anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and provisions of the Indian Penal Code for allegedly being the “masterminds” of the February 2020 riots, which had left 53 people dead and over 700 injured.

The violence had erupted during the protests against CAA and NRC. Besides Khalid, activist Khalid Saifi, JNU students Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita, Jamia Coordination Committee members Safoora Zargar, former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain and several others have also been booked under the stringent law in the case.