2020 Delhi riots: Supreme Court relaxes Meeran Haider's bail condition

The Supreme Court on Friday relaxed the bail conditions imposed on Meeran Haider, an accused in the 2020 Delhi riots larger conspiracy case, allowing him to mark his presence at the police station once a week instead of twice [Meeran Haider v. State]. .Haider was granted bail by the top court in January this year along with four co-accused - Gulfisha Fatima, Shifa ur Rehman, Shadab Ahmed, and Mohd Saleem Khan. However, the top court had refused bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in the same matter. A Bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and Vipul M Pancholi today modified its earlier bail order to direct Haider to report to the SHO Crime Branch, Delhi Police, every Saturday between 10 AM and 12 PM. Taking note of his upcoming marriage scheduled for October 17, the top court also exempted Haider from marking his personal attendance at the police station on October 17 and October 24. .While enlarging Haider on bail, the Supreme Court had imposed strict conditions, including a requirement to report twice a week - every Monday and Thursday - before the Crime Branch of Delhi Police. Appearing for Haider, Senior Advocate Siddharth Aggarwal submitted that the twice-a-week reporting requirement was causing severe hardship and impeding Haider's efforts to secure employment."Any place I join, Monday to Friday will be a working day. It’s a 2-3 hour process... I am requesting for it to be modified in this way. Once a week I do, on the weekend if it is possible. Either Saturday or Sunday," Aggarwal argued. Aggarwal also sought relaxation of other conditions, including restrictions on participating in gatherings or posting on social media. However, the Bench firmly declined to modify the remaining conditions."We are very clear. We will not... Consciously we have not said 'in this case' in conditions 8 and 9," the Bench observed, emphasizing that those restrictions were intentionally kept broader..Regarding the attendance requirement, the Court expressed willingness to grant relief. Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the Delhi Police, did not oppose the weekly reporting modification, remarking in a lighter vein that Haider could "get married in the police station also." Accepting Haider's plea regarding his upcoming wedding, the Bench granted a two-week exemption from the weekly attendance requirement. "In the background of petitioner said to be getting married, his presence before the jurisdictional police on 17.10.2026 and 24.10.2026 stands exempted," the Court ordered. All other bail conditions, including restrictions on leaving Delhi, surrendering his passport, and prohibitions on making public statements or attending public rallies, remain unchanged..[Read Live Coverage]