Supreme Court seeks State’s response in bail plea of Delhi Riots conspiracy accused Tasleem Ahmed

The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought the Delhi government's response to a bail plea filed by Tasleem Ahmed, an accused in the 2020 Delhi Riots conspiracy case.

Notice was issued by a Bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and PB Varale.

The Delhi High Court had denied bail to Ahmed, who is charged under the under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), in September last year. He was earlier denied bail by the trial court in 2022.

The other accused in the conspiracy case are Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Mohd Saleem Khan, Shifa Ur Rehman, Athar Khan, Meeran Haider, Shadab Ahmed, Abdul Khalid Saifi and Gulfisha Fatima.

Ahmed's case was de-tagged from others on the request of his counsel.

It was Ahmed's case that he was only an anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protester, but he was arrested on terror charges on June 24, 2020. He had urged the High Court to release him on bail, citing delay in trial and period of custody already undergone.

Before the Supreme Court, Ahmed was represented by Advocates Mehmood Pracha and RHA Sikander, AOR, along with Jatin Bhatt, Sanawar, Kshitij Singh, Nujhat Naseem, Sikander Raza, and Kumail Abbas.