SC adjourns hearing of Umar Khalid’s bail plea and posts the matter to January 24, 2024, after a joint request by both parties

Today (January 10, 2024), the Supreme Court (SC) was hearing a petition filed by former JNU (Jawaharlal Nehru University) scholar Umar Khalid seeking bail in the Delhi riots larger conspiracy case. The two-judge bench comprising Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Bela M. Trivedi adjourned the hearing and agreed to post it on January 24, 2024. Initially, Justice Trivedi was not in favor of the adjournment requested by Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal appearing for Umar Khalid. SA Sibal sought adjournment because he had to argue before the Constitution bench in the AMU case. Also, the Delhi Police requested for some time as Additional Solicitor General SV Raju was unavailable. Hearing this, Justice Trivedi said that the bench would hear the matter today. Further, SA Sibal repeated the request before the bench to adjourn the hearing therefore, Justice Mithal said, “The impression goes that the Court is not taking up the matter.” Following this, SA Huzefa Ahmadi and SA Arvind Datar joined Sibal’s request. They appeared in context with the petitions against the validity of certain provisions of the UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act). After hearing the matter, the bench agreed to post the matter on January 24, 2024, and clarified that no further adjournment would be granted.