New Delhi

The Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed an appeal filed by Delhi Police against the bail granted to former Indian National Congress councillor Ishrat Jahan in a case linked to the alleged larger conspiracy behind the February 2020 northeast Delhi riots.

A bench of Justice Navin Chawla and Justice Ravinder Dudeja said more than four years had passed since the trial court granted bail and there were no allegations that Jahan had violated any bail conditions.

The court said it was not inclined to interfere with the earlier order and dismissed the appeal, while clarifying that it had not commented on the merits of the case.

Jahan, along with Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and others, has been charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in connection with the riots that broke out in northeast Delhi in February 2020. The violence left 53 people dead and over 700 injured.

The unrest occurred during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 and the proposed National Register of Citizens.

Delhi Police had argued that the trial court ignored the seriousness of the allegations and evidence suggesting that the riots were the result of a planned conspiracy involving Jahan and co-accused persons.

However, when granting bail in March 2022, the trial court had observed that Jahan was not shown to have conceived the road blockade protests, was not part of incriminating WhatsApp groups, and was not physically present in the riot-hit northeast Delhi area. The court also noted that her name did not appear in CCTV footage, call records, or alleged conspiracy meetings.

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The protest site linked to Jahan was at Khureji, which was outside the area where the riots occurred.