The Supreme Court on Friday modified the bail conditions for 2020 Delhi riots accused Meeran Haider, reducing his mandatory police reporting from twice a week to once weekly and granting him a temporary exemption to attend his upcoming wedding.
A bench comprising Justices Aravind Kumar and Vipul M Pancholi directed Haider to report to the Crime Branch police station every Saturday between 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon. The judges also granted him complete exemption from marking his presence on October 17 and October 24 because his wedding is set for October 17.
Senior advocate Siddharth Agarwal, representing Haider, moved the top court seeking relief on grounds of the marriage, stating that the trial court would not be in a position to grant the requested modification. Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, appearing on behalf of the Delhi Police, did not oppose the plea.
Core Restraints on Public and Online Activity Kept Intact
The bench emphasized that all other bail requirements previously imposed on Haider remain operative until the trial concludes. Under these continuing terms, Haider is barred from publishing any content on social media platforms. He also remains prohibited from attending, addressing, or taking part in any rally, meeting, gathering, or public programme, whether in person or virtually.
Haider was initially granted bail on January 5 alongside four other activists—Gulfisha Fatima, Shifa Ur Rehman, Mohd Saleem Khan, and Shadab Ahmad—subject to 11 specific conditions, with the court warning that any breach would lead to bail revocation. Under that earlier ruling, the accused were required to appear in person twice every week, on Mondays and Thursdays between 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon, before the station house officer at the Delhi Police Crime Branch located at Police Headquarters on Jai Singh Marg. The station house officer was directed to log their attendance in an exclusive register and submit monthly compliance updates to the trial court.
Status of Conspiracy Case and Co-Accused
While granting relief to Haider and four others in January, the Supreme Court rejected the bail applications of co-accused Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, ruling that reasonable grounds existed to accept the accusations against them as prima facie true. The court noted that Khalid and Imam, who have been behind bars since 2020, may submit fresh bail pleas either following the examination of protected witnesses or after a period of one year.
The broader conspiracy case arises from the communal violence that erupted in northeast Delhi in February 2020 amid demonstrations against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Citizens. The clashes resulted in 53 deaths and left more than 700 people injured.
Delhi Police arrested 18 individuals in connection with the alleged conspiracy, charging them under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and sections of the Indian Penal Code as the alleged masterminds behind the unrest. To date, 11 of the 18 accused have been granted bail.
Among those still in custody, Imam was initially apprehended on January 28, 2020, over speeches delivered during anti-CAA demonstrations before being formally arrested in the wider conspiracy case in August 2020. Khalid was arrested on September 13, 2020, over allegations of delivering inflammatory speeches on February 24 and 25, coinciding with then-US President Donald Trump’s first official state visit to India.
