Delhi riots accused Salim Malik withdraws bail plea before Supreme Court

Salim Malik, an accused in the Delhi riots conspiracy case of February 2020, withdrew his bail plea before the Supreme Court on Friday [Salim Malik @ Munna vs State of National Capital Territory of Delhi]..A Bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal proceeded to allow the same, observing,"After arguing for some time and on our expressing reservation in entertaining the present petition, the learned senior counsel, Mr. Salman Khurshid for the petitioner seeks permission to withdraw the present petition. Permission as sought for is granted. The Special Leave Petition is dismissed as withdrawn.".The Delhi High Court had on April 22 denied bail to Malik, after noting that he attended meetings where aspects of riot-like violence and burning of the national capital were openly discussed.Malik was arrested by the Delhi Police on June 25, 2020. He was booked under several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) as well as provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).It was the case of the Delhi Police that Malik was part of a premeditated conspiracy of the disruptive chakka jam and a preplanned protest at different sites in Delhi to escalate and cause violence and riots in the capital.The trial court had rejected Malik’s bail plea in October 2022.While denying bail, the trial court observed that he attended “conspiratorial meetings”.The High Court upheld the same and also added that when public demonstration becomes violent and damages properties and harms lives, it goes beyond fundamental rights and becomes an offence punishable under law.When same came in appeal before the Supreme Court, Justice Trivedi during the hearing was orally not convinced on the need to interfere with the orders of the fora below. Malik then proceeded to withdraw his petition..Delhi High Court denies bail to Salim Malik in Delhi riots case.Senior Advocate Salman Khurshid with advocates Bilal Anwar Khan and Talha Abdul Rahman appeared for Malik..Malik's is the third instance in recent past when a bail matter before Justice Trivedi has been withdrawn by the accused.Professor Hany Babu, an accused in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence case, recently withdrew his bail plea citing a change in circumstances.Prior to that, Umar Khalid, another accused in the Delhi riots case, too had withdrawn his bail plea after citing the same ground..[Read order]