Controversial slogans directed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi echoed on the campus of Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Monday after the Supreme Court denied bail to student activists Umar Khalid and Sherjeel Imam.
The two men have been in jail for over five years. They face charges in a “larger conspiracy” case linked to the 2020 Delhi riots.
The slogans were raised by some people at JNU’s Sabarmati Hostel, sources said. Danish, the joint secretary of the Left-backed JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU), and Sunil, its secretary, were at the spot when slogan-shouting was going on, sources said.
Other Left-back student groups also participated.
The slogans included references to coffins and PM Modi’s name in what appeared to be a direct message of threat, and not an allusion to it.
Khalid and Imam were also once part of this Left-propelled sloganeering cohort in JNU, as were Kanhaiya Kumar and Shehla Rashid. Kumar and Rashid have moved on.
A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and Prasanna B Varale on Monday said the prosecution material disclosed a prima facie case against Khalid and Imam, thereby attracting the statutory bar to bail under Section 43D(5) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
It said that at this juncture, the prosecution evidence and other material “does not justify their enlargement on bail”, adding that the record suggested their involvement at the level of planning, mobilisation and issuance of strategic directions.
It granted bail to five others named in the case: Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, Mohd Saleem Khan, and Shadab Ahmed.
All the seven had challenged the Delhi High Court order denying them bail in a case filed under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, or (UAPA), linked to the alleged larger conspiracy behind the 2020 Delhi riots.
The bench read out a lengthy judgment before pronouncing the verdict.
While rejecting the bail applications of Khalid and Imam, the Supreme Court said it is satisfied that the prosecution has given enough material that indicated the two’s involvement in the criminal conspiracy.
The Supreme Court differentiated the charges against every individual named in the case, saying it cannot treat all individuals equally for bail.
“Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam stand on a qualitatively different footing as compared to other accused,” the bench said. “The hierarchy of participation requires the court to assess each application individually.”