Delhi riots 2020: Student activist Meeran Haider withdraws bail plea from HC in UAPA case

New Delhi: Student activist Meeran Haider Friday withdrew from the Delhi High Court his plea seeking bail in a case registered against him under the anti-terror law UAPA over the alleged larger conspiracy behind the communal riots that erupted in the national capital in February 2020.

Haider's counsel told a bench of Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Girish Kathpalia that since the police had concluded its investigation, he would approach the trial court for bail.

Haider -- a Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) youth wing leader and Jamia Millia Islamia student -- and several others, including Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, have been booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for allegedly being the "masterminds" of the February 2020 riots in northeast Delhi that left 53 people dead and more than 700 injured.

The violence had erupted during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Haider, who has been in custody since his arrest in April 2020, had approached the high court in 2022, challenging the trial court order refusing to grant him bail in the matter.

The matter has remained pending since then.

The Delhi Police had opposed his bail plea, saying he was the coordinator of the Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC), which was at the "foundation of every chakka jam".

Last month, the trial court granted Haider a 10-day interim bail on humanitarian grounds.